Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,665,914 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 83,303 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $45,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $299,986,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 244.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $138,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Halliburton by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 13,068,025 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $353,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,043 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 16,093,680 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $437,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,530,937 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $503,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:HAL opened at $25.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $41.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark reduced their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven equities 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 in the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.