Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Rothschild Redb raised Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company.

Halliburton Trading Up 1.7%

HAL stock opened at $28.20 on Thursday. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $30.40. 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 firm has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.76.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total value of $246,938.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider directly owned 452,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,562,425.98. The trade was a 26.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Halliburton by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,363,599 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,147,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617,696 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 81.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 40,969,139 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,287,989 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $617,269,000 after purchasing an additional 346,218 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 9.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 26,004,682 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $639,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Halliburton by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,342,963 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $453,461,000 after buying an additional 92,549 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.