Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.81.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.6 %

Schlumberger stock opened at $42.30 on Friday. Schlumberger has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.37%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 198,258 shares of company stock worth $8,732,604. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 1,068.3% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.