BMO Capital Markets Cuts Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $38.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target cut by BMO Capital Markets from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on HAL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Halliburton from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Johnson Rice raised shares of Halliburton to a moderate buy rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $41.89.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HAL opened at $30.82 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.17 and a 200-day moving average of $34.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $27.52 and a 12 month high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The company had revenue of $5.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total value of $367,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,066,119. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 274.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Country Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. 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.