M&G PLC Buys 76,096 Shares of Halliburton Company $HAL

M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 438,185 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,096 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $14,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,235.70. This trade represents a 30.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Argus decreased their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.1%

HAL stock opened at $31.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.74. The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Halliburton Company has a fifty-two week low of $24.92 and a fifty-two week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.45%.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is a global provider of products and services for the energy industry. The company supports the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas through technologies and services used throughout the life cycle of a well. Halliburton operates through two primary business segments: Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. Its offerings include cementing, stimulation, well completion, production enhancement, drilling services, drilling fluids, well testing, wireline and perforating services, formation evaluation, and project management.