Short Interest in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Drops By 6.9%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 27,430,000 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 29,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. The trade was a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its position in Halliburton by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $61,375,000 after purchasing an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Halliburton by 56.5% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 157,085 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 56,707 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Halliburton by 180.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 28,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $487,522,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150,986 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.42.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Halliburton stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.75. 9,929,334 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,828,130. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

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.