Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Upgraded at Evercore

Evercore upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $42.00 price objective on the oilfield services company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Capital One Financial upped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zephirin Group lowered shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Halliburton Stock Down 1.4%

HAL opened at $36.41 on Friday. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $37.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.98. The company has a market cap of $30.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 5.78%.Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey Shannon Slocum sold 5,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.82, for a total transaction of $184,014.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 187,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,338,645.86. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 357,053 shares of company stock worth $12,178,682. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.