Pzena Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Pzena Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,333,743 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 12,853 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.63% of Halliburton worth $150,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth $31,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.86.

Halliburton News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, reinforcing its shareholder-return story and signaling confidence in cash generation. Halliburton Announces Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Capital One raised its price target on Halliburton to $50 from $41 and reiterated an overweight rating, suggesting upside from current levels. Capital One adjusts price target on Halliburton
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton unveiled its Xaminer Deep Testing service, a new reservoir evaluation tool that could support future product demand and strengthen its technology offering. HAL Unveils Next-Generation Solution for Challenging Reservoirs
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary noted HAL is up about 8.2% since its last earnings report, reflecting improved sentiment after results that beat expectations. Halliburton (HAL) Up 8.2% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton shareholders approved the board, auditor, and compensation plans at the annual meeting, which removes some governance uncertainty but is unlikely to move the stock by itself. Halliburton Shareholders Back Board, Auditor and Compensation Plans
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller will join Noble Corporation’s board is more of an industry-side development than a direct catalyst for HAL shares. Noble Corporation plc Announces New Director Appointment

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $42.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Halliburton Company has a 1-year low of $19.38 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.88 and its 200 day moving average is $33.60.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 158,455 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $6,338,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,013,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,521,080. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,064,992. This represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 420,837 shares of company stock worth $16,979,135 in the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Halliburton

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.