Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 66.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 80,508 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 161,900 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Country Trust Bank acquired a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Halliburton by 274.9% during the second 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 last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 34.2% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $31.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.26 and a 52 week high of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.07.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HAL. Raymond James cut their price target on Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.74.

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.