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

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.53.

Several brokerages have issued reports on HAL. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,177,525. The trade was a 28.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,576 shares of company stock valued at $1,631,457. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 42,683 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its position in Halliburton by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 17,060 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:HAL traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.60. The stock had a trading volume of 34,031,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,864,116. The business's 50 day moving average is $21.21 and its 200-day moving average is $25.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $37.08.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.45%.

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.