SLB (NYSE:SLB) Given New $58.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

SLB (NYSE:SLB) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “positive” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.60% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on SLB. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.81.

SLB Trading Up 1.2%

SLB stock opened at $49.74 on Monday. SLB has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $51.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.14 and its 200-day moving average is $36.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $74.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,607.50. This represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total transaction of $2,261,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 159,371 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,692.99. This represents a 27.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,947 shares of company stock worth $3,871,337. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SLB during the second quarter valued at about $618,697,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after buying an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 30.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after buying an additional 4,719,852 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,883,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SLB

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.