Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,188 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,081 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Halliburton were worth $8,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 101.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of HAL stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.27. The company had a trading volume of 7,559,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,946,540. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.89. The company's fifty day moving average is $27.43 and its 200 day moving average is $29.22. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.42.

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.