Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target Cut to $34.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on HAL. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.74.

Halliburton Stock Performance

NYSE HAL opened at $31.18 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $27.26 and a 1 year high of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.89.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.69%.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 274.9% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 101.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by 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.