Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys New Shares in Halliburton Company $HAL

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,453 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after buying an additional 19,190,520 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,812,327,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Halliburton by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,436,336,000 after acquiring an additional 861,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $878,806,000 after acquiring an additional 443,064 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on HAL. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $33.85 on Wednesday. Halliburton Company has a twelve month low of $21.40 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.53. The firm has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Halliburton Company 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.