Allstate Corp Makes New $728,000 Investment in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,757 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in Halliburton by 48.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $61,375,000 after acquiring an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Halliburton by 180.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares during the period. Finally, Scott & Selber Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 109.9% during the fourth quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 81,335 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other 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 value of $3,689,712.78. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Griffin Securities downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE:HAL opened at $25.37 on Tuesday. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $23.42 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 24.03%.

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.