Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,873 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $5,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Country Trust Bank purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 34.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $26.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.90. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $26.11 and a 1 year high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its 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). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on HAL. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. Dbs Bank started coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.79.

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.