Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.94% from the company’s current price.

HAL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Halliburton from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.73.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.4%

Halliburton stock opened at $39.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.68. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $19.22 and a 1-year high of $41.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $132,187.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 81,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,805,657.47. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 5,441 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total transaction of $184,014.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 187,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,338,645.86. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 189,960 shares of company stock worth $7,406,724 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,456 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,312 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Halliburton by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,320 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,363 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Key Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — EPS topped consensus and margins improved on international strength, supporting the bullish narrative. Halliburton Q1 beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple broker upgrades and price‑target raises (examples: TD Cowen, Citigroup, Argus, HSBC, RBC, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Stifel, Griffin) are lifting investor sentiment and implied upside. Analyst upgrades after Q1
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary: CEO says U.S. oil is in the “early innings” of a rebound and that a drilling ramp‑up is coming — reinforcing expectations for higher activity and service demand. CEO comments on rebound
• Positive Sentiment: Index/sector positioning: Halliburton is getting more spotlight in Russell 1000 energy reweighting, which can support demand from passive/ETF flows. Russell 1000 spotlight
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer‑term industry backdrop: reports project mid-single‑digit CAGR growth for oilfield services over the next decade — positive for structural demand but not an immediate catalyst. Oilfield services market forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains around a “moderate buy” — broad support but not unanimous, so momentum depends on future execution and guidance. Consensus analyst recommendation
• Negative Sentiment: Company warned of higher costs tied to the Iran war, which could pressure margins and offset some upside from stronger activity. Higher costs from Iran war
• Negative Sentiment: Some cautionary notes and downgrades (e.g., Seeking Alpha analysis, a sell rating from Zephirin, Barclays’ equal‑weight) signal rising uncertainty and profit‑taking risk after the recent rally. Downgrade/uncertainty note

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.