Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Has $3.14 Million Stock Position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,700 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Halliburton accounts for about 2.3% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $621,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $728,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 153,920 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 25,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 3.3%

HAL stock opened at $22.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Halliburton Company has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.84 and its 200 day moving average is $24.44.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. Halliburton had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 28.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Halliburton to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.58.

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.