Halliburton Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 24,208 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 45% compared to the typical volume of 16,693 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth approximately $366,000. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 6.6% during the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 14,814 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 12.2% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 151,846 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $5,986,000 after buying an additional 16,524 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 65.4% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,451 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 26.2% during the first quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 26,544 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 5,505 shares during the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.4 %

HAL opened at $38.58 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.39. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month high of $43.85. 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 firm has a market cap of $34.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.00.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

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.