CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,920 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after buying an additional 25,025 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Halliburton were worth $4,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $728,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $621,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HAL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lowered Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE HAL traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.25. The stock had a trading volume of 10,106,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,734,410. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a one year low of $25.16 and a one year high of $41.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.96.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

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.