Morgan Stanley Raises Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $50.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on HAL. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna restated a positive rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Halliburton from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $48.82.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $38.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.81 and its 200 day moving average is $37.41. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.84 and a 52 week high of $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.