Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Short Interest Update

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,380,000 shares, a decrease of 5.2% from the May 15th total of 24,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $32.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The firm has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.43.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results 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. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $123,802.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,845. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $1,437,701.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 130,783 shares in the company, valued at $4,828,508.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,287 shares of company stock worth $1,930,704 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 443.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.