Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.42.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group cut Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Halliburton Trading Down 2.8 %

HAL stock traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $26.25. 10,106,921 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,734,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $25.16 and a 52-week high of $41.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.11 and a 200-day moving average of $28.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 141,206 shares of Halliburton 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.