Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.75.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL opened at $33.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.79 and its 200-day moving average is $36.33. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $32.35 and a 1-year high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Halliburton’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,481,883.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 283,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,481,883.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,287 shares of company stock worth $1,930,704. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 15.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,905,089 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $117,684,000 after buying an additional 388,079 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $444,000. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 39.0% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 11,522 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Halliburton by 8.9% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 58,235 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,782 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.