Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 68,779 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,489 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,779 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.05% of Halliburton worth $17,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV grew its stake in Halliburton by 1,134.6% in the third quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 1,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,491,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,041,482. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.39. The company has a market capitalization of $34.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.