Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $46.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Johnson Rice raised shares of Halliburton to a moderate buy rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.56.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.7 %

HAL stock opened at $27.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.11 and its 200-day moving average is $34.71. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.52 and a twelve month high of $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Halliburton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in Halliburton by 274.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 286.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton during the first quarter valued at $46,000. 85.23% of the stock is 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.