Raymond James Trust N.A. Reduces Stake in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Raymond James Trust N.A. cut its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,758 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 24,647 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 15.8% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,966 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 54,101 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $374,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 131.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 278,194 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $10,963,000 after acquiring an additional 158,169 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,616,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $31.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.00. 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 has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.26 and a 52 week high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HAL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Dbs Bank initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to 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.