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

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

Several other research firms have also weighed in on HAL. Barclays reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $38.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.84 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The firm has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Halliburton by 259.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 166,407 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 120,122 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Halliburton by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 128,001 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 52,933 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $696,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Halliburton by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Halliburton by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,384 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by 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.