SLB (NYSE:SLB) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $51.88 and last traded at $51.2490, with a volume of 3189920 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $54.00 target price on shares of SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

SLB Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. SLB’s payout ratio is 48.10%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 200,849 shares of company stock valued at $9,406,603 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLB

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,371,335,000 after buying an additional 35,057,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter worth $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in SLB by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,696,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $602,444,000 after acquiring an additional 6,149,511 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is 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.