B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys Shares of 215,252 Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 215,252 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,253,000.

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

Halliburton Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $30.47 on Wednesday. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.26 and a 12-month high of $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.22 and its 200-day moving average is $32.08.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.