Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Given New $50.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James decreased their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Halliburton Price Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $38.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.66 and its 200 day moving average is $37.39. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In other Halliburton news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 377,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $13,308,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,015 shares in the company, valued at $26,793,229.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.