Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on HAL. TD Cowen upped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Halliburton from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target 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. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $48.53.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $38.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

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

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth $26,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Halliburton

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.