Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 6,744 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 332,515 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 6,744 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $12,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $457,245,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 123.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 15,936,342 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $627,088,000 after purchasing an additional 8,791,319 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 65.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,217,776 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $677,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,815,373 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 140.4% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,737,112 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $118,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth approximately $68,873,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.53.

Halliburton 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.