Equities researchers at Argus have raised their target price for Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) from $31.00 to $39.00, reflecting a potential upside of 14.80% from the stock’s previous closing price. The firm maintains a “buy” rating on the oilfield services company’s stock, signaling strong market confidence.
This adjustment comes as part of a broader trend among financial analysts revisiting their evaluations of Halliburton. Bank of America recently increased its price objective from $24.00 to $26.00, also assigning a “buy” rating. Conversely, the Zephirin Group downgraded Halliburton from “buy” to “hold,” reducing its target price from $30.00 to $28.00. Piper Sandler raised its price target from $29.00 to $30.00, while Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage with a “buy” rating and a price target of $35.00. Evercore ISI also increased its price target from $35.00 to $36.00, maintaining an “in-line” rating.
These recent evaluations indicate a generally positive outlook for Halliburton, which has garnered two “Strong Buy” ratings, fourteen “Buy” ratings, and eight “Hold” ratings from various analysts. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of $34.57.
Recent Stock Performance
On Friday, Halliburton shares opened at $33.97. Over the past year, the stock has shown considerable resilience, with a 12-month low of $18.72 and a high of $35.55. The company maintains a market capitalization of $28.59 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 22.50, and a beta of 0.78. Its liquidity ratios include a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.04.
Halliburton’s last earnings report, released on January 21, 2024, revealed that the company achieved earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.54 by $0.15. The company reported revenues of $5.66 billion, exceeding the forecast of $5.39 billion. Although Halliburton’s net margin stands at 5.78% with a return on equity of 19.77%, its revenue marks a slight increase of 0.8% compared to the previous year’s quarter.
Insider Transactions and Institutional Holdings
Recent insider activity includes a significant sale by Mark Richard, who sold 160,000 shares at an average price of $27.77, resulting in a total transaction value of $4,443,200.00. Following this sale, Richard retained 452,374 shares valued at approximately $12.56 million, representing a 26.13% decrease in his ownership. Another notable transaction involved Lawrence J. Pope, Executive Vice President, who sold 100,000 shares at an average price of $32.25, totaling $3,225,000.00.
In the last 90 days, insiders have sold a total of 268,854 shares worth about $7.92 million. Notably, insiders own 0.56% of Halliburton’s stock, while institutional investors hold a substantial 85.23% of the company.
Several large investors have made significant adjustments to their holdings in Halliburton recently. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake by 81.8%, acquiring an additional 40,969,139 shares and raising its total to 91,030,451 shares valued at approximately $2.24 billion. Other notable institutional movements included Strive Asset Management acquiring a new stake worth $418.74 million and Holocene Advisors LP investing $147.31 million.
As Halliburton continues to navigate the energy sector, the latest developments and analyst sentiments suggest a cautiously optimistic outlook for the company moving forward. The potential for growth, combined with strategic initiatives and recent performance metrics, positions Halliburton as a significant player in the oilfield services industry.
