Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Shares Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) shares traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.93 and last traded at $43.38. 1,027,361 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 11,230,820 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank assumed coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.50 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $60.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.61.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The business had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter worth about $257,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 817,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,318 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 15.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 396,382 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,726,000 after purchasing an additional 51,637 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 269.1% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 14,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,901,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $89,723,000 after purchasing an additional 11,813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.