Halliburton Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 37,290 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 27% compared to the typical daily volume of 29,456 call options.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock traded up $3.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $32.85. 13,650,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,010,150. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $18.72 and a 1-year high of $32.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark Richard sold 160,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the second quarter worth about $287,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 48,900 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 22,045 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,081,928 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $22,050,000 after buying an additional 248,015 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,595,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 82.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,482 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 19,186 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HAL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Halliburton from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised Halliburton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Halliburton in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.05.

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.