StockNews.com Downgrades Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) to Hold

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 Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of 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 upped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.53.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $39.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month high of $43.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.42.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 259.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 166,407 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 120,122 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 70.5% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 128,001 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 52,933 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $696,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Halliburton by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 83.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,384 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.