Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Short Interest Up 24.3% in July

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 40,320,000 shares, a growth of 24.3% from the July 15th total of 32,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.78. 6,013,015 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,171,766. The company has a market cap of $63.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Schlumberger has a 12-month low of $42.61 and a 12-month high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 12.56%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 50,048 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $2,499,397.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 203,076 shares in the company, valued at $10,141,615.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,779 shares of company stock valued at $11,103,553 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Schlumberger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 14.5% in the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 22.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,296 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 119.4% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 23,152 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 12,601 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 89.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 132,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,231,000 after purchasing an additional 62,466 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 8.2% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 31,032 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Schlumberger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Schlumberger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.56.

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.