Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in a report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “peer perform” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on HAL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised shares of Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.18.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL opened at $33.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.63 and a 200-day moving average of $35.94. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $20.17 and a 52-week high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 93,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $363,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 72,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 7.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 39.0% during 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 during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 309.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter valued at about $895,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.