Short Interest in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Declines By 19.1%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,500,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the February 13th total of 25,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HAL. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.42.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $25.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.14. Halliburton has a one year low of $23.42 and a one year high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HAL. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its position in Halliburton by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during 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 buying an additional 80,567 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in Halliburton by 180.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 23.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.