Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Raymond James lowered their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.65.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $38.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $34.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $27.84 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.95 and its 200-day moving average is $37.31.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The firm 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 revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly 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 this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

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

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.