Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 121,148 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Brandes Investment Partners LP reduced its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,606,673 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 121,148 shares during the period. Halliburton makes up 1.4% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $125,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 244.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $138,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $487,522,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150,986 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Halliburton by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $353,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378,043 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,132,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $32,683,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark decreased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $25.09 on Friday. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $23.42 and a 52 week high of $41.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,603 shares of company stock worth $4,041,695 in the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.