Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.
HAL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.24.
Halliburton Stock Performance
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.
Halliburton Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 35.60%.
Insider Transactions at Halliburton
In other Halliburton news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,166,235.70. This represents a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,812,327,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Halliburton by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 110,220,971 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,114,848,000 after buying an additional 19,190,520 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at $345,941,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at $337,486,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $169,304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.
Halliburton News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating on Halliburton, suggesting Wall Street expects potential upside despite the stock’s recent underperformance. Halliburton Company Receives Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy from Analysts
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen upgraded its rating on HAL, adding to the favorable analyst backdrop and potentially supporting investor sentiment. Halliburton Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen
- Positive Sentiment: Halliburton appointed Maurice Smith as lead independent director. The governance change, together with a reported dividend signal, may reassure shareholders about board oversight and capital returns. Halliburton Appoints Maurice Smith Lead Independent Director Halliburton Stock Steadies After Governance Shift and Dividend Signal
- Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity indicates elevated trading interest in HAL, although the report does not establish whether investors are positioning for gains or further declines. Halliburton Target of Unusually Large Options Trading
- Negative Sentiment: Halliburton has underperformed the broader energy sector over the past three months, highlighting relative weakness even as analysts remain optimistic. Halliburton Stock: Is HAL Underperforming the Energy Sector?
- Negative Sentiment: A report noted that Halliburton stock was heading into the open after a 1.4% drop, reinforcing near-term selling pressure and investor caution. Halliburton Stock Heads into the Open After a 1.4 Percent Drop
Halliburton Company Profile
Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is a global provider of products and services for the energy industry. The company supports oil and natural gas exploration, development and production across the life cycle of a well, serving both independent and national oil companies.
Halliburton operates through two principal business segments: Completion and Production, which provides cementing, stimulation, intervention and completion services; and Drilling and Evaluation, which offers drilling services, formation evaluation, well construction, project management and related technologies.
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