Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HAL. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James cut their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $38.58 on Monday. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.84 and a 52 week high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.66 and its 200-day moving average is $37.39. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,643 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 37,010 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 22,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,605 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,972 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.