La Chevardiere Patrick De Sells 2,000 Shares of SLB (NYSE:SLB) Stock

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

SLB Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $53.21 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.64 and a 52-week high of $57.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 681,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,033,000 after purchasing an additional 13,422 shares during the period. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new stake in SLB during the first quarter valued at approximately $330,000. DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in SLB during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,686,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in SLB by 80.3% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in SLB during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.95.

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.