Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.23 and last traded at $31.5960, with a volume of 1348346 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Halliburton from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Rothschild Redb raised Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.05.

Halliburton Trading Up 7.0%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.40 and its 200 day moving average is $24.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $246,938.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $4,443,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,562,425.98. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,660 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,847 shares in the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $1,330,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Halliburton by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,762 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,619,865 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $39,849,000 after purchasing an additional 47,002 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the third quarter worth approximately $2,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.