Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) PT Lowered to $35.00 at Morgan Stanley

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $35.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HAL. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $43.17.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.5 %

HAL stock opened at $29.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.52 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.57 and a 200-day moving average of $34.88.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The business had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 18,325 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.