Morgan Stanley Increases Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $50.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 29.13% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HAL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.82.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $38.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.40. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $27.84 and a 1-year high of $43.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter valued at approximately $637,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Halliburton by 4.7% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 135,299 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $5,333,000 after buying an additional 6,025 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter worth $366,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 14,814 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 151,846 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $5,986,000 after acquiring an additional 16,524 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.