Short Interest in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Decreases By 5.2%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,380,000 shares, a decline of 5.2% from the May 15th total of 24,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $33.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.47. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,481,883.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $369,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,704 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 319.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,956 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 28,137 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Halliburton by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 323,841 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $12,517,000 after buying an additional 59,069 shares in the last quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in Halliburton by 375.4% in the 1st quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 45,609 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 36,016 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at $291,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 51.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 34,963 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 11,852 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.06.

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.