State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 1,100 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 0.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 243,922 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $9,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,972 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 15,351 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,256 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $369,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,481,883.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,287 shares of company stock worth $1,930,704 in the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.62. 7,585,116 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,303,705. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.33. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $32.35 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.93.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

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.