Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $1.72 Million Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise decreased its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,813 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 17,879 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $1,054,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $145,860,000 after buying an additional 96,394 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 98.8% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 12.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $40,480,000 after buying an additional 186,105 shares during the period. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at $2,091,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.6%

HAL opened at $42.03 on Friday. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $19.38 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $35.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.60.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, reinforcing its shareholder-return story and signaling confidence in cash generation. Halliburton Announces Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Capital One raised its price target on Halliburton to $50 from $41 and reiterated an overweight rating, suggesting upside from current levels. Capital One adjusts price target on Halliburton
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton unveiled its Xaminer Deep Testing service, a new reservoir evaluation tool that could support future product demand and strengthen its technology offering. HAL Unveils Next-Generation Solution for Challenging Reservoirs
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary noted HAL is up about 8.2% since its last earnings report, reflecting improved sentiment after results that beat expectations. Halliburton (HAL) Up 8.2% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton shareholders approved the board, auditor, and compensation plans at the annual meeting, which removes some governance uncertainty but is unlikely to move the stock by itself. Halliburton Shareholders Back Board, Auditor and Compensation Plans
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller will join Noble Corporation’s board is more of an industry-side development than a direct catalyst for HAL shares. Noble Corporation plc Announces New Director Appointment

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 420,837 shares of company stock valued at $16,979,135 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Capital One Financial lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.86.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.