SLB (NYSE:SLB) Given New $54.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

SLB (NYSE:SLB) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $51.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.02% from the stock’s current price.

SLB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna increased their price target on SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.96.

SLB Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SLB stock traded up $0.38 on Monday, hitting $49.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,766,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,895,770. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.71. SLB has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $51.67. The company has a market cap of $74.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. SLB’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total value of $1,412,927.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,607.50. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total transaction of $197,010.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,795.22. This represents a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,947 shares of company stock valued at $3,871,337. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLB

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 23.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after acquiring an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the second quarter worth about $618,697,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in SLB by 30.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,883,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLB Company Profile

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.