Sanders Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,997,640 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 52,915 shares during the period. Halliburton accounts for 1.0% of Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $697,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Halliburton by 274.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 34.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HAL shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.74.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $31.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.93. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.26 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The stock has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.89.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.69%.

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.