Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.42.

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James downgraded Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Halliburton Trading Up 3.4 %

HAL opened at $25.59 on Tuesday. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $23.42 and a 1-year high of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.03.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total value of $93,756.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This trade represents a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.