Short Interest in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Increases By 31.9%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,040,000 shares, a growth of 31.9% from the February 28th total of 20,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 77,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,646.04. This represents a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.37.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.64. 3,714,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,216,988. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.91. The company has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $23.42 and a twelve month high of $41.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.