Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on HAL. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.14.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $33.31 on Friday. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $43.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 8,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $363,510.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 72,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,064,992. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,230. The trade was a 28.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 128.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $89,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,095 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,195,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $827,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 172.6% during the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after buying an additional 69,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after buying an additional 67,369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Halliburton

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton reported Q2 revenue of $5.71 billion and EPS of $0.55, both modestly ahead of expectations, reinforcing that core business performance remains solid. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company won a new integrated field development contract with Basra Oil Company in Iraq, adding another large international project and expanding its presence in a key oil-producing region. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton also secured additional development work in Kuwait, reinforcing the view that recent contract wins are improving its growth outlook and supporting its international business mix. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces pointed to a stronger long-term outlook thanks to Halliburton’s technology edge and global contract pipeline, but also noted that geopolitical risk and uneven execution could limit near-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reportedly lowered expectations for Halliburton, and other firms trimmed price targets, suggesting analysts remain cautious even as the stock benefits from new business wins.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and mixed sentiment may cap enthusiasm if investors worry that recent contract wins are not enough to quickly reaccelerate margins or earnings growth.

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.