Susquehanna Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Stock Price

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Susquehanna from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the oilfield services company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HAL. Benchmark lowered their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Halliburton from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.68.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.86. The stock had a trading volume of 11,003,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,934,186. 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Halliburton has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $38.89. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.80.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,321,149.13. This represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 162,758 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $4,728,000 after buying an additional 40,182 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Halliburton by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth approximately $358,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 244.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,513,560 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $138,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,203,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 195,873 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $5,690,000 after purchasing an additional 587 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.