SLB (NYSE:SLB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLB (NYSE:SLB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Argus raised shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $51.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $76.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.73. SLB has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $52.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.50.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. 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 payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. This trade represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,092,801.50. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter worth $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 64.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,149,511 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of SLB by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,635,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $638,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of SLB by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.