StockNews.com Downgrades Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Benchmark restated a buy rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $48.59.

Halliburton Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of HAL opened at $36.73 on Tuesday. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 443.8% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.