Analysts Set Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) PT at $33.53

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.58.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Halliburton to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Halliburton Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:HAL opened at $20.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.68 and a 200-day moving average of $24.92. The company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $37.08.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,525. This represents a 28.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 83,077 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after buying an additional 3,287 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 237.2% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 22,639 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 15,925 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 71,797 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 70,229 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,910,000 after buying an additional 2,464 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.