Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,089,400 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 51,654 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.35% of Halliburton worth $84,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,036 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $19.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.80. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $19.59 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.37.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 over the last quarter. 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.