Ashburton Jersey Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 300,040 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 9,903 shares during the period. Halliburton makes up 5.0% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $10,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Halliburton by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,202,160 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $372,687,000 after acquiring an additional 265,680 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 5.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,871,178 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $359,283,000 after purchasing an additional 448,548 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,291,276 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $214,297,000 after buying an additional 44,188 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Halliburton by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,841,843 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $155,595,000 after buying an additional 23,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Halliburton by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,342,520 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $135,372,000 after buying an additional 44,901 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Halliburton Stock Up 0.6 %

HAL traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,059,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,029,170. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.02 and its 200-day moving average is $37.27. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.59.

About Halliburton

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.