Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock Price Up 4.4% - Time to Buy?

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) traded up 4.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.95 and last traded at $22.96. 5,172,704 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 11,047,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.58.

Halliburton Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The business's fifty day moving average price is $20.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.58.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 87.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.