Westerkirk Capital Inc. Acquires 29,900 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

Westerkirk Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 89,400 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 29,900 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after buying an additional 19,190,520 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $841,339,000 after buying an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $639,715,000 after buying an additional 2,238,983 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $418,738,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 85.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.70. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $20.09 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $33.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 416,991 shares of company stock valued at $16,846,948. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.27.

About Halliburton

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.