Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at UBS Group

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the oilfield services company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HAL. Citigroup lowered their target price on Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.68.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Halliburton stock traded down $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $20.65. The company had a trading volume of 9,445,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,951,740. 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 firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.75. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $38.89.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.45%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $1,279,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. This represents a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.