Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Earns Positive Rating from Susquehanna

Susquehanna reiterated their positive rating on shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a $57.00 price objective on the oilfield services company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on HAL. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a buy rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Friday, December 9th. They set a strong-buy rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Halliburton from $43.90 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL opened at $31.00 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.30. The firm has a market cap of $28.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.12. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $23.30 and a twelve month high of $43.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business’s revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. This is an increase from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.99%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $107,409.51. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $107,409.51. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,894.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 6,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $244,237.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 119,691 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,412.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,878 shares of company stock worth $1,763,947 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 35,196 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 22,567 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 770,424 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $30,316,000 after purchasing an additional 301,719 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $619,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 76,958 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 20,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 83,770 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton Company Profile

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Halliburton Co engages in the provision of services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation segments. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services.