First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Halliburton by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,551,234 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,394,077,000 after purchasing an additional 479,877 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Halliburton by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,538,783 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $850,927,000 after buying an additional 782,093 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $400,070,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Halliburton by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,878,811 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $284,822,000 after buying an additional 1,568,485 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Halliburton by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,217,704 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $224,770,000 after buying an additional 962,547 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.5 %

HAL traded up $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $33.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,917,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,952,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $32.35 and a 52-week high of $43.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.93.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.53%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,508.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,508.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,704 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on HAL. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.75.

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.