Susquehanna Lowers Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $42.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Susquehanna from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “positive” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.21% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.18.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $33.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.94. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $20.17 and a fifty-two week high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. This trade represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $388,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 1.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,951 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.4% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 18,587 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. VectorGlobal IAG Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth $1,020,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently 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.