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

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.8095.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HAL shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore raised shares of Halliburton from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Capital One Financial upped their price target on Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,499,455.28. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 5,441 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total transaction of $184,014.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 187,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,338,645.86. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 357,053 shares of company stock valued at $12,178,682. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $40.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.46. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $40.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.