Sciencast Management LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Sciencast Management LP boosted its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) by 513.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,850 shares of the oilfield services company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,619 shares during the quarter. Halliburton accounts for approximately 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Halliburton were worth $3,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 244.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $138,025,000 after buying an additional 3,203,224 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Halliburton by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $353,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,043 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $503,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,683,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,100,693 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $138,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,586 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,486.40. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of HAL traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.65. The stock had a trading volume of 9,031,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,843,958. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $23.42 and a 1-year high of $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HAL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.