Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.12 and last traded at $36.8590, with a volume of 5410692 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zephirin Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.67.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.4%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.88. The company has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 171,200 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $5,985,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,101,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,499,455.28. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 3,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $132,187.02. Following the sale, the vice president owned 81,631 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,657.47. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 357,053 shares of company stock valued at $12,178,682. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Halliburton by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Halliburton by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Halliburton by 309.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the 1st quarter worth about $895,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently 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.