Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,601 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 7,258 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 244.5% during 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 increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $353,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,043 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,683,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,100,693 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $138,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,586 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.0 %

HAL stock opened at $24.75 on Friday. Halliburton has a one year low of $23.42 and a one year high of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 fifty day moving average of $26.32 and a 200-day moving average of $28.08.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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.