Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also commented on HAL. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.75.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $33.78 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.30. Halliburton has a 12-month low of $32.35 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The stock has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.93.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 30.84%. 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 firm earned $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 38,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total transaction of $1,437,701.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 130,783 shares in the company, valued at $4,828,508.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,287 shares of company stock worth $1,930,704 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% 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.