Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.81.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $40.39 on Friday. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $18.72 and a 1 year high of $40.43. The company has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.97 and a 200-day moving average of $29.46.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 19,618 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total value of $663,480.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at $11,652,173.70. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,657.47. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 357,053 shares of company stock worth $12,178,682. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Halliburton by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Halliburton by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Halliburton by 309.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 52,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $895,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.