Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 176,904 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,712,353 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 176,904 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Halliburton worth $73,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning lifted its position in Halliburton by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 173,555 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $5,042,000 after acquiring an additional 18,396 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,641 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 6,620 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,518 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 5.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,979 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on HAL shares. Griffin Securities cut shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.24. The company had a trading volume of 5,955,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,601,679. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.96. The stock has a market cap of $22.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $41.56.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

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.