SLB (NYSE:SLB) Price Target Raised to $60.00

SLB (NYSE:SLB) had its price target hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $53.00 to $60.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $46.86 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.98. 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 has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $52.45. The company has a market cap of $70.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.68.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $921,541.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 90,211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,462,000 after buying an additional 6,596 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in SLB during the 4th quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at about $107,351,000. 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.