New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 242,859 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,377,261 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 242,859 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.16% of Halliburton worth $37,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HAL. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $61,375,000 after buying an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 56.5% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 157,085 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 56,707 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in Halliburton by 180.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $621,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.25. 10,106,921 shares of the company traded hands, 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. Halliburton has a one year low of $25.16 and a one year high of $41.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.96.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group cut Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities 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, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.42.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.