Halliburton Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 24,341 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 52% compared to the typical volume of 16,048 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on HAL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 target price on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Argus lowered their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.24.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.4%

HAL stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.93. 3,595,248 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,195,067. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.54. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $21.46 and a 52-week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Halliburton by 128.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $89,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,095 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,274,017 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $64,306,000 after acquiring an additional 397,282 shares during the period. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its position in Halliburton by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 154,980 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after acquiring an additional 76,186 shares in the last quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 275,153 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $7,776,000 after purchasing an additional 116,800 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,304,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is a global provider of products and services for the energy industry. The company supports the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas through technologies and services used throughout the life cycle of a well.

Halliburton operates through two primary business segments: Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. Its offerings include cementing, stimulation, well completion, production enhancement, drilling services, drilling fluids, well testing, wireline and perforating services, formation evaluation, and project management.