Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Shares Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s stock price was up 1.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.68 and last traded at $40.74. Approximately 3,167,627 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 14,671,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results 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. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLB. State Street Corp grew its position in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after acquiring an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,195,290,000 after purchasing an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after buying an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,696,000 after buying an additional 915,925 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Schlumberger

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.