TD Cowen Cuts Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $47.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $48.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.14.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $33.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.45. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $43.59.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 35.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.

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.