Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on HAL. UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zephirin Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.81.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $40.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.97 and its 200 day moving average is $29.56. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $40.43.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $132,187.02. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,805,657.47. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 357,053 shares of company stock valued at $12,178,682. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

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

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.