Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Short Interest Update

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,040,000 shares, an increase of 31.9% from the February 28th total of 20,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.7 %

HAL stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.55. The company had a trading volume of 7,743,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,227,134. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The company has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.91.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HAL. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $483,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,424 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after acquiring an additional 18,245 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 212.4% during the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 54,284 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 36,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,832,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Griffin Securities downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.37.

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.