Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.97.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Dbs Bank assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.50 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at $257,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 817,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,318 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 269.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 14,376 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,901,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $89,723,000 after buying an additional 11,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 307,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,880,000 after buying an additional 63,413 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $42.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.28. Schlumberger has a 52-week low of $38.66 and a 52-week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.37%.

Schlumberger Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.