Scott & Selber Inc. Takes $1.13 Million Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Scott & Selber Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,745 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 5.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 55,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 4.2% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 57,199 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after buying an additional 2,328 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $5,108,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 58,085 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 17,377 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL opened at $29.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.53. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.26 and a 1 year high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 22.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.79.

Halliburton Company 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.