Analysts Set Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) Target Price at $43.10

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.0952.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zephirin Group lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC upped their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 243,475 shares of company stock worth $9,931,490 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Halliburton during the third quarter worth $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in Halliburton by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to support a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The opportunity could create future work in drilling, production and energy infrastructure, although it is not yet a firm contract. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” recommendation for HAL, offering some support after the stock’s recent weakness. Halliburton consensus recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton stock rose in the latest session but continued to underperform the broader market, indicating that investors remain cautious despite the recent bounce. MarketWatch stock performance article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s soft third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about weaker oilfield-services demand, pricing or international activity in the near term. UBS Halliburton outlook article

Halliburton Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE HAL opened at $32.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.49. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $20.39 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

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.