Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Lowered to In-Line Rating by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has $35.00 price target on the oilfield services company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $28.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on HAL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Halliburton from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Rothschild Redb upgraded Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Halliburton from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.05.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL stock opened at $30.86 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.59 and its 200 day moving average is $24.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 0.78. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $33.03.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $4,443,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,562,425.98. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at $9,302,095.92. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 268,854 shares of company stock worth $7,915,138 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Halliburton by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 91,030,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $2,239,349,000 after buying an additional 40,969,139 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth about $418,738,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $147,315,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,379,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Halliburton by 85.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $175,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,759 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major fundamental bull case: MarketBeat frames a potential >$100B rebuilding capex cycle in Venezuela that would directly benefit service providers (well construction, repairs) and is the primary driver of recent HAL upside. The Caracas Catalyst: Big Oil’s $100 Billion Opportunity (HAL)
• Positive Sentiment: News-driven momentum: U.S. comments about investing to revive Venezuela’s oil sector sparked a sharp rally and a 52‑week high for HAL as traders repositioned for near‑term contract and service demand. Halliburton (HAL) Stock Rallies Following Trump Venezuela Comments
• Positive Sentiment: Elevated bullish flows: unusually large call‑option volumes and a recent 7.8% session surge signal speculative conviction and short‑term positioning that can amplify further moves if the Venezuela narrative persists. Halliburton Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:HAL)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed market chatter: social and Quiver summaries show bullish excitement but also caution about hype; the January 21 Q4 earnings report is the next fundamental checkpoint that could validate or unwind the rally. Halliburton Stock (HAL) Opinions on Venezuela Oil Developments
• Neutral Sentiment: Political/personal trading headlines: coverage of congressional and other timely trades is stirring sentiment but hasn’t changed Halliburton’s underlying business exposure; monitor for regulatory or reputational follow‑up. U.S. politician profits from Venezuela crisis after super suspicious oil stock trade
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pushback: Evercore ISI downgraded HAL to “in line” citing North America exposure while raising peers — a direct near‑term headwind that likely amplified selling after the news‑driven spike. SLB raised on reduced risk profile, Halliburton cut on North America exposure at Evercore ISI
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares (~$3.2M) and reduced his stake materially; multiple recent insider sales can dent confidence during a speculative run. SEC filing – Insider Sale (Lawrence J. Pope)
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term pullback & volatility: coverage notes HAL dipping amid broader gains as traders take profits and rotate out of the rapid Venezuela trade — expect elevated volatility until clearer contract wins or earnings confirm revenue upside. Halliburton (HAL) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.