Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

HAL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Argus increased their price objective on Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.19.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.6%

HAL stock opened at $35.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.57. The company has a market cap of $30.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $18.72 and a fifty-two week high of $36.19.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at $12,044,943.60. The trade was a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at $13,538,550. This trade represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 337,002 shares of company stock worth $11,445,938. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190,520 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,363,599 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,147,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617,696 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,436,336,000 after purchasing an additional 861,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $878,806,000 after purchasing an additional 443,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.