Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $22.66 and last traded at $22.83, with a volume of 6027741 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark decreased their price target on Halliburton from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.37.

Halliburton Stock Down 13.0 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.90. The firm has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Eric Carre sold 51,179 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $1,279,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,525. This trade represents a 28.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.04, for a total transaction of $93,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,551 shares in the company, valued at $253,646.04. The trade was a 26.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,782 shares of company stock worth $5,321,170 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Halliburton by 4.4% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Halliburton by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,776 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.