The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $48.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $46.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.82.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $38.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.75 and a 200 day moving average of $37.40. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $27.84 and a 52 week high of $43.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. 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 last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.