Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at Argus

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Argus from $45.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock. Argus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.83% from the stock’s current price.

HAL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zephirin Group increased their price objective on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE HAL traded up $0.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.66. 1,566,140 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,979,552. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $20.39 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. The trade was a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 258,255 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,535 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Halliburton by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,114,848,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190,520 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,825,761 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,436,336,000 after purchasing an additional 861,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,097,164 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $878,806,000 after purchasing an additional 443,064 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 82,596.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 29,771,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $841,339,000 after purchasing an additional 29,735,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Halliburton by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,806,168 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $446,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,845 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won a multi-year development agreement from Kuwait Oil to support the Ahmadi Innovation Valley, adding another international contract win and reinforcing its growth pipeline. Kuwait Oil Company Awards Long-Term Agreement to Advance Technology Development Ahmadi Innovation Valley
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at TD Cowen kept a buy rating and only trimmed their price target slightly, suggesting Wall Street still sees meaningful upside after the selloff. Halliburton Stock Slides as Regional Pressure Squeezes Middle East Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent commentary pieces argued the post-earnings drop may have created a buying opportunity, citing Halliburton’s beat-and-raise style fundamentals, margin improvement, and improving international demand. Halliburton: Q2 Sell-Off Creates A Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded Halliburton from strong sell to hold, which is less bearish than before but not a strong endorsement. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed by management’s warning that Middle East activity remains pressured, especially in Kuwait, Iraq, and Qatar, which weighed on sentiment despite the earnings beat. Halliburton Earnings Beat Estimates. Why the Stock Is Falling.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports noted that Halliburton’s Q2 beat was only modest and that the revenue outlook was tepid, which suggests the market is concerned growth may not accelerate quickly. Halliburton tumbles on tepid revenue forecast, Middle East recovery warning

Halliburton Company Profile

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.