Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 552,737 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 21,183 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $15,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $299,986,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 244.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $138,025,000 after buying an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $353,242,000 after buying an additional 2,378,043 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $503,856,000 after buying an additional 1,748,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,683,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,525. This represents a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $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 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.7 %

Halliburton stock opened at $25.55 on Wednesday. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $41.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.91.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Griffin Securities downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James cut Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

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.