Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Halliburton Call Options (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 29,467 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average volume of 18,840 call options.

Halliburton Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:HAL traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,632,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,746,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.23. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $25.51 and a twelve month high of $41.56.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton's payout ratio is currently 23.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HAL. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James lowered Halliburton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3,757.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 37,067 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 36,106 shares during the period. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter valued at about $450,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 68.6% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,662 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,930 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 41.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 121,853 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $4,116,000 after acquiring an additional 35,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Halliburton by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,656 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 4,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

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.