Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Cuts Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 324,122 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 14,292 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $9,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Halliburton by 81.8% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,239,349,000 after buying an additional 40,969,139 shares during the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter worth $418,738,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter worth $147,315,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 85.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $175,490,000 after buying an additional 3,969,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its position in Halliburton by 163.8% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 4,992,111 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $122,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Capital One Financial increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 5,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total value of $184,014.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 187,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,338,645.86. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $6,338,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,013,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 189,960 shares of company stock worth $7,406,724 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $39.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.40. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $19.22 and a 12 month high of $41.18.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 37.36%.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.