Prospera Financial Services Inc Lowers Stock Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Prospera Financial Services Inc decreased its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 21.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,857 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 3,825 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.1% in the second quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.9% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Halliburton by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,979 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $31.94 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.97. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.26 and a fifty-two 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 has a market cap of $28.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HAL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Dbs Bank initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.74.

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.