Quantitative Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 67,716 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth $241,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 105.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 136,889 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,647,000 after purchasing an additional 70,267 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Halliburton by 2.0% during the second quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 17,348 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 5.9% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,176,295 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $175,735,000 after purchasing an additional 286,795 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in Halliburton by 6.7% during the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 41,671 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.8%

HAL opened at $36.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton Company has a 52 week low of $21.40 and a 52 week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HAL. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price objective on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.10.

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.