Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock Price Down 0.3%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) shares traded down 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $36.21 and last traded at $36.26. 970,590 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,694,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays cut their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.59.

Halliburton Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.01.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 434,287 shares of company stock worth $15,415,304. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 443.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.