Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on HAL. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.59.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.0 %

HAL opened at $36.33 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth $360,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Halliburton by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 185,217 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after purchasing an additional 95,487 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 133,440 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,841,843 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $155,595,000 after buying an additional 23,394 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.