Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 4,300 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,980 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 4,300 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 101.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $29.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.94 and a 200 day moving average of $30.16. Halliburton has a one year low of $25.51 and a one year high of $41.56. The firm has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.26.

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.