Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Short Interest Down 19.1% in February

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,500,000 shares, a decline of 19.1% from the February 13th total of 25,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HAL. Barclays cut their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.42.

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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 shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total transaction of $3,689,712.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,149.13. This trade represents a 52.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,321,170 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 101.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.75. 56,934,240 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,790,502. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $23.42 and a 12 month high of $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.12.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.03%.

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.