Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.84.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Halliburton from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $19.48 on Wednesday. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $22.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.31. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $38.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 10.90%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. This represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 87.4% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

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.

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