Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Halliburton from a buy to a hold, even as the broader analyst view remains positive with 18 Buy ratings and an average Moderate Buy rating.
• Halliburton recently posted better-than-expected Q2 results, reporting EPS of $0.55 on revenue of $5.71 billion, both slightly above estimates.
• The company continues to win business internationally, including a new field development contract in Iraq and additional work in Kuwait, while some analysts have trimmed price targets amid cautious sentiment.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on HAL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Griffin Securities raised shares of Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.14.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of HAL stock opened at $33.31 on Friday. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $20.39 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.94 and a 200-day moving average of $36.45.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballast Inc. lifted its stake in Halliburton by 12.9% in the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 50,273 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 5,730 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 2.8% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,423 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 3,256 shares during the period. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 10.0% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 17,617 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 66.2% in the second quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 6,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BFI Infinity Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% in the second quarter. BFI Infinity Ltd. now owns 120,276 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $4,083,000 after buying an additional 4,304 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton reported Q2 revenue of $5.71 billion and EPS of $0.55, both modestly ahead of expectations, reinforcing that core business performance remains solid. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company won a new integrated field development contract with Basra Oil Company in Iraq, adding another large international project and expanding its presence in a key oil-producing region. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton also secured additional development work in Kuwait, reinforcing the view that recent contract wins are improving its growth outlook and supporting its international business mix. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces pointed to a stronger long-term outlook thanks to Halliburton’s technology edge and global contract pipeline, but also noted that geopolitical risk and uneven execution could limit near-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reportedly lowered expectations for Halliburton, and other firms trimmed price targets, suggesting analysts remain cautious even as the stock benefits from new business wins.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and mixed sentiment may cap enthusiasm if investors worry that recent contract wins are not enough to quickly reaccelerate margins or earnings growth.

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company's activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.