Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB – Get Free Report) dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $70.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Schlumberger traded as low as $54.43 and last traded at $54.64. Approximately 3,171,856 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 11,392,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.86.
SLB has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.80.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 38,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $1,944,699.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 386,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,504,523.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,191 shares of company stock worth $8,636,322 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 2,494.0% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 101,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,278,000 after acquiring an additional 97,516 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.3% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 331,309 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,468,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $74,080,000 after purchasing an additional 380,185 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,557 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 85.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 313,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,315,000 after purchasing an additional 144,327 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Schlumberger Stock Down 1.1 %
The company has a market capitalization of $77.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00.
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.96 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Schlumberger Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.25%.
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.