Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 9.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.8 %

HAL opened at $39.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.14. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $23.30 and a 1-year high of $43.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 2.15.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 8th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 7th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. HSBC increased their price target on Halliburton to $43.90 in a research report on Thursday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares raised their target price on Halliburton from $48.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $182,967.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 245,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,468,140.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $182,967.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 245,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,468,140.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 11,044 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.50, for a total transaction of $436,238.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 249,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,846,994.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,153 shares of company stock valued at $2,305,715 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,873,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,354,901 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $240,660,000 after buying an additional 1,630,877 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 129.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,728 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $62,172,000 after buying an additional 927,187 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 188.5% during the 1st quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,234,123 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $46,737,000 after buying an additional 806,333 shares during the period. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 273.8% in the 1st quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,657 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $37,668,000 after purchasing an additional 728,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

About Halliburton

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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.