Natixis Increases Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Natixis grew its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 46.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 564,972 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after purchasing an additional 180,293 shares during the period. Natixis owned approximately 0.06% of Halliburton worth $15,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.15. 6,766,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,877,160. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $39.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.93. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 24.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction 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 $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.32.

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.