Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $35.97 and last traded at $35.8550, with a volume of 10962681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAL. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Halliburton from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.19.

Halliburton Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.13 and a 200-day moving average of $27.26. The company has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,600 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.17, for a total transaction of $88,842.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,849.31. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $3,225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 337,002 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,938 in the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,929,285 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $145,860,000 after buying an additional 96,394 shares during the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 98.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 134,365 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter worth $1,775,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Halliburton by 12.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,645,526 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $40,480,000 after acquiring an additional 186,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the third quarter valued at $1,010,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.