Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.18 and last traded at $39.2490, with a volume of 15972253 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore raised shares of Halliburton from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.81.

Halliburton Stock Down 2.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 54,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $1,900,006.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 344,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,044,943.60. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $5,985,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,499,455.28. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 357,053 shares of company stock worth $12,178,682 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,054,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Halliburton by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $145,860,000 after buying an additional 96,394 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $1,775,000. Tejara Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 98.8% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $40,480,000 after buying an additional 186,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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.