Swiss National Bank Sells 133,700 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,494,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 133,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $67,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HAL. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $61,375,000 after acquiring an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 180.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 28,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $25.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.27. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $23.42 and a 1 year high of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,603 shares of company stock worth $4,041,695 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HAL. 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. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.42.

Halliburton 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.