Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 905,473 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after selling 202,171 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.10% of Halliburton worth $24,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 4.4% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 154,210 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $4,480,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

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Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $25.65. The stock had a trading volume of 9,031,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,843,958. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $26.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $23.42 and a 12 month high of $41.56.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HAL. 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 note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.