Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Cut to Neutral at UBS Group

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the oilfield services company's stock, down from their previous target price of $36.00. UBS Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 16.96% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on HAL. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $46.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.58.

Halliburton Stock Up 1.0 %

Halliburton stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.07. The stock had a trading volume of 8,135,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,142,486. The company has a market capitalization of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.48. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.26 and a one year high of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Halliburton's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 157,085 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 56,707 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 146.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 842,355 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $28,455,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 105.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 186,961 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $6,316,000 after acquiring an additional 95,864 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 2,418.9% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 78,387 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 75,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,782,174 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,986 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Halliburton

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.