Westpac Banking Corp Sells 18,128 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Westpac Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 87.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,538 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 18,128 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $69,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $299,986,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 244.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $138,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Halliburton by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $353,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378,043 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 16,093,680 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $437,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $503,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL opened at $19.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $19.59 and a 1-year high of $41.56.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HAL. Piper Sandler began coverage on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.37.

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.