Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock Price

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the oilfield services company's stock. Citigroup's target price suggests a potential upside of 48.64% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HAL. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Halliburton from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.68.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.86. The stock had a trading volume of 11,003,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,934,186. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $38.89. The firm has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 7.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.80. 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 (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. On average, analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $3,689,712.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Timothy Mckeon sold 10,497 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $258,226.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,486.40. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Halliburton by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,036 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.