Westpac Banking Corp Sells 18,128 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 87.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,538 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 18,128 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler started coverage on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL opened at $19.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $19.59 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.79.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 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.