Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 14,000 Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,825 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after selling 14,000 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Halliburton Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.54. The company had a trading volume of 5,056,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,629. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $27.84 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $34.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.33.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

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.