Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Director Sells $255,535.00 in Stock

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) Director Tobi Young sold 6,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $41.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.28 and its 200-day moving average is $32.14. Halliburton Company has a one year low of $19.22 and a one year high of $42.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 37.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. HSBC boosted their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Halliburton from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.09.

Key Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Macro demand outlook — Oil?service firms are positioning for a boom as global oil investment and producer activity pick up, which should lift equipment and services demand for Halliburton. Swashbuckling oil-services firms are preparing for a boom
• Positive Sentiment: Customer pull — Halliburton executives say smaller operators are “vacuuming up” idle equipment, implying increased utilization and potential revenue pickup for service providers. Halliburton executives: Smaller operators vacuuming up equipment slack
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/TV support — Media and commentators (including Jim Cramer) are publicly positive on HAL as a cyclical play that has held up, which can support short?term demand for the stock. Jim Cramer on Halliburton: “It’s Been a Good Stock Even in a Bad Oil Market”
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent results mixed — Last quarter HAL narrowly beat EPS and revenue estimates but showed modest year?over?year revenue decline; beats help sentiment but leave limited upside without stronger growth. MarketBeat HAL profile / recent earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy-market divergence — Global gas tightness versus a US glut creates uneven activity across regions and basins; this mixed market backdrop could mute uniform upside for service companies. While Asia and Europe scramble for natural gas, the US glut has nowhere to go
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — VP Timothy McKeon sold 8,655 shares (under a Rule 10b5?1 plan, which lowers interpretive weight), and director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares (a ~28.7% cut to her holdings). Insider sales can sap sentiment even if some are pre?arranged. McKeon Form 4 Young Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation/caution — Commentary that the recent rally “leaves little room for error” and other cautionary takes increase downside risk if growth disappoints or macro conditions shift. Halliburton: Recent Rally Leaves Little Room For Error

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HAL. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,239,349,000 after acquiring an additional 40,969,139 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after buying an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $418,738,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $169,304,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $147,315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.