Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Halliburton has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 25 analysts, with 18 buys, six holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $43.24, above the reported share price of $33.65.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.54 consensus and revenue of $5.71 billion versus $5.50 billion. Revenue increased 3.7% year over year, while the stock was trading down 1.1%.
• Institutional investors own 85.23% of Halliburton, with BlackRock and other major investors establishing or expanding positions. Separately, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, and Halliburton declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.2381.

HAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 target price on Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. The trade was a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter worth $2,812,327,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190,520 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth about $345,941,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth about $337,486,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $169,304,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE HAL opened at $33.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $21.46 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.45 and a 200-day moving average of $36.67.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. Halliburton's payout ratio is 35.60%.

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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