Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.42.

Several research firms recently weighed in on HAL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Griffin Securities cut shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HAL stock opened at $25.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $23.42 and a 1 year high of $41.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 24.03%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,525. This represents a 28.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,257,250 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $61,375,000 after purchasing an additional 80,567 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $621,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 180.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 43,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 28,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $487,522,000 after buying an additional 3,150,986 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.