Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Buys 7,475 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 103.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,728 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,475 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in Halliburton in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1,134.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 1,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.40 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.04. 4,700,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,136,037. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.84 and a 52 week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton 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.