Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Halliburton from “hold” to “buy.” Overall, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 18 Buy, six Hold and one Sell rating and an average price target of $43.24.
• Halliburton reported quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.01, while revenue reached $5.71 billion versus the $5.50 billion consensus and increased 3.7% year over year.
• Shares opened at $33.65, below the average analyst price target. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the stock, while COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.24.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $33.65 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $34.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.67. The company has a market capitalization of $28.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $21.46 and a 52 week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $1,844,751.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Halliburton by 128.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $89,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,095 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $827,000. Allstate Corp raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 115.7% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 65,147 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,841,000 after buying an additional 34,943 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,274,017 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $64,306,000 after buying an additional 397,282 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,080,922 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $171,847,000 after buying an additional 31,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company NYSE: HAL is a global provider of products and services for the energy industry. The company supports oil and natural gas exploration, development and production across the life cycle of a well, serving both independent and national oil companies.

Halliburton operates through two principal business segments: Completion and Production, which provides cementing, stimulation, intervention and completion services; and Drilling and Evaluation, which offers drilling services, formation evaluation, well construction, project management and related technologies.

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