Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Halliburton's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, reaching $38.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,776,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,155,866. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $27.84 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $37.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Halliburton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% 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.