Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Trading Down 2.8%

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) shares traded down 2.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $36.32 and last traded at $36.59. 1,557,212 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,696,121 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Halliburton from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.59.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.89. The company has a market cap of $32.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.01.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Halliburton had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $123,802.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,845. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jill D. Sharp sold 3,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $123,802.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,845. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $13,308,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 434,287 shares of company stock worth $15,415,304. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the first quarter worth $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Halliburton by 443.8% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.