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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.63.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.42. 5,828,649 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,877,908. The stock has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.57.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV boosted its position in Halliburton by 1,134.6% during the third quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 1,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by 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.