Independent Advisor Alliance Decreases Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,235 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 1,203 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 274.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $31.86 on Friday. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.26 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The company has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HAL. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.74.

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.