Halliburton Company (HAL) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.86.

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $32,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE:HAL traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.72. 8,857,015 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,720,367. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.73. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $24.92 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.76.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.45%.

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.