Stock in Focus: Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) are up 0.72% to $56.25 in pre-market trade after Citigroup upgraded the oil field services company to "buy" from "neutral," saying the company's opportunity for share gains in North America is not reflected in the stock price. Citi increased its price target on the shares to $68 from 56. Earlier this week, Halliburton was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Guggenheim.

Is this a Buying Opportunity?There are currently twenty eight analysts that we track that cover the stock. Of those twenty eight, twenty two have a Buy rating, one has strong Buy rating and five have a hold rating. On a consensus basis this yields a score of 2.86 and a Buy. The combined price objective of these covering analysts is $77.38, which represents a 25.09% upside difference to the last closing price.The most recent analyst activity consisted of Morgan Stanley upgrading rating with equal weight stance on the company. Morgan Stanley has a price target of $63.00 which represents an upside of 1.84% from the last closing price. On the date of the report, the stock closed at $61.86.Another research firm weighing in recently was Zacks who reiterated rating on the stock. On August 29^th, Zacks boosted their price target on the stock at $71.00, a 14.77% upside to the current price. On the day of the report, HAL shares closed at $67.71.Company ProfileHalliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) provides a range of services and products for the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services, including stimulation services and sand control services; and cementing services comprising bonding the well and well casing, and casing equipment. It also offers completion tools that provide downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, liner hanger systems, sand control systems, and service tools.