Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Given New $45.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Halliburton to $45 from $42 while keeping a market perform rating. The new target implies roughly 9% upside from the previous close.
• Halliburton recently reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $0.55 EPS versus the $0.50 consensus and revenue of $5.40 billion, slightly above estimates. However, revenue was still marginally below the same quarter last year.
• Insiders sold shares in recent transactions, including a director and a vice president, while institutional ownership remains high at about 85%. Several major firms also increased their Halliburton price targets or maintained bullish ratings.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the oilfield services company's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.99% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus increased their target price on Halliburton from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.05.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HAL traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.29. The company had a trading volume of 595,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,937,699. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $19.38 and a 12 month high of $42.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.86.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total transaction of $255,535.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,250 shares in the company, valued at $636,230. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $363,510.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 222,488 shares of company stock worth $8,789,305 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in 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 worth $3,114,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190,520 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Halliburton by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,436,336,000 after buying an additional 861,964 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $878,806,000 after acquiring an additional 443,064 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Halliburton by 82,596.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $639,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,983 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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