Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $38.70 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.39. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85.

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

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’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 owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 271.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 768,057 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $27,781,000 after buying an additional 561,020 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 206,692 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $7,472,000 after buying an additional 84,771 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 490,230 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after buying an additional 31,534 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position 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. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.