Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Trading 1.5% Higher

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) shares traded up 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $37.48 and last traded at $37.27. 743,254 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,956,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HAL shares. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.59.

Halliburton Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.16 and its 200-day moving average is $37.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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 company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Doheny Asset Management CA raised its holdings in Halliburton by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 23,453 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,159 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 64.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,681 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 8,854 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Halliburton during the first quarter worth about $643,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 326.5% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 27,260 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.