Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 42,000 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Viking Fund Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 42,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HAL. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth $331,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at about $673,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 14.9% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,938 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 249,540 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $10,107,000 after purchasing an additional 54,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 46,181 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 8,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE:HAL traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $33.63. The company had a trading volume of 6,927,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,193,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.35. Halliburton has a one year low of $31.75 and a one year high of $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 283,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,287 shares of company stock worth $1,930,704. 0.61% of the stock is currently 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.