Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 30.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,661 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,975 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 4.3% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 152,741 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,437,000 after acquiring an additional 6,258 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 12.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,239 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,889,257 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $83,933,000 after acquiring an additional 63,994 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,108,000. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in Halliburton by 4.2% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 57,199 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.42.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:HAL opened at $25.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.51. The company has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $23.42 and a 1-year high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.