Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.06.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $32.92 on Friday. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 130,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,704. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,179,579 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,642,000 after buying an additional 189,324 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 561,020 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 206,692 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $7,472,000 after acquiring an additional 84,771 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 490,230 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after acquiring an additional 31,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,920 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 22,906 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.