Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on HAL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $48.65.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $37.48 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.84 and a 1 year high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nvwm LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.2% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 22,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.6% during the third 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. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.3% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,972 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.6% during the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,875 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 4.0% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 7,439 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.