Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.59.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 271.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after buying an additional 561,020 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 206,692 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $7,472,000 after purchasing an additional 84,771 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 490,230 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after purchasing an additional 31,534 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,920 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 22,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter worth $344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:HAL opened at $36.73 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.01.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Halliburton

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.