Congress Asset Management Co. Purchases Shares of 22,827 Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,827 shares of the oilfield services company's stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in Halliburton by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 54,762 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 8,582 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Halliburton by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 26,801 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $122,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,695 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 348,698 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $9,342,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

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 transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock traded down $0.75 on Friday, reaching $26.25. 10,106,921 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,734,410. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $41.56. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $27.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.42.

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.