Congress Asset Management Co. Buys New Shares in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 22,827 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Halliburton by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark decreased their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.42.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $26.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.02. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $41.56. The firm has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

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.