Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Trading Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s stock price traded down 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $41.72 and last traded at $41.81. 4,104,861 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 14,820,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $59.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.78. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm’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 earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Schlumberger by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 392,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,537,000 after acquiring an additional 6,998 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 116.1% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 138,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,537,000 after acquiring an additional 74,451 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in Schlumberger by 10.6% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 981,406 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,133,000 after acquiring an additional 94,265 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 26.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 557,533 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,210,000 after acquiring an additional 116,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Schlumberger by 8.4% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 150,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,638,000 after acquiring an additional 11,735 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.