Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $37.67 on Monday. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $21.40 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.60. The stock has a market cap of $31.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,069,574 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $37,247,000 after buying an additional 412,697 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 337,282 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $11,454,000 after buying an additional 127,282 shares during the period. Carlson Financial Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Carlson Financial Inc. now owns 11,278 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Halliburton by 2,886.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 82,808,973 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,811,365,000 after buying an additional 80,036,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Halliburton by 165.8% during the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 498,818 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $16,935,000 after acquiring an additional 311,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.