Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating)’s share price dropped 6.3% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $33.37 and last traded at $34.46. Approximately 208,629 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 14,405,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.76.Specifically, EVP Eric Carre sold 21,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total value of $762,250.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Charles Jr. Geer sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $122,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,672 shares of company stock valued at $4,442,807 in the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of equities analysts have commented on HAL shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 25th. Susquehanna Bancshares boosted their target price on Halliburton from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 25th. TheStreet raised Halliburton from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Halliburton to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $28.89.
The stock has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 2.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.14 and its 200-day moving average is $25.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.76.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 16.76%. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 1st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 29.45%.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Walleye Capital LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 511,871 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $11,706,000 after acquiring an additional 246,825 shares during the period. JustInvest LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. JustInvest LLC now owns 20,597 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,644 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 67,462,484 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,542,867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,047,725 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Finally, Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Halliburton by 335.5% during the fourth quarter. Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC now owns 653,213 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $14,939,000 after purchasing an additional 503,228 shares during the last quarter. 75.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)
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 following segments: Completion and Production and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift and completion services.
