Benchmark Reaffirms Buy Rating for Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.7 %

Schlumberger stock opened at $49.45 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger has a 12 month low of $42.73 and a 12 month high of $62.12. The stock has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total transaction of $329,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 249,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,825.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total value of $329,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 249,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,825.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,545 shares of company stock valued at $4,458,430. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,281,480 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,883,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753,108 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Schlumberger by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,379,848 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,922,768,000 after purchasing an additional 8,617,971 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Schlumberger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 51,617,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,686,173,000 after buying an additional 1,133,686 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,099,000 after buying an additional 282,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,000,292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.