Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Upgraded by Evercore to “Outperform” Rating

Evercore upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $42.00 price objective on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.67.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $36.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.04. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $37.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.88. The firm has a market cap of $30.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 5,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total transaction of $184,014.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 187,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,338,645.86. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $132,187.02. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 81,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,805,657.47. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 357,053 shares of company stock worth $12,178,682. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Halliburton by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Halliburton by 25.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 309.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 1st quarter valued at about $895,000. 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.