Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.87.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total transaction of $329,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 249,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,825.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 38,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $1,944,699.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 386,841 shares in the company, valued at $19,504,523.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total transaction of $329,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 249,182 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,825.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,191 shares of company stock valued at $8,636,322. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Schlumberger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 2,494.0% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 101,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,278,000 after purchasing an additional 97,516 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Schlumberger by 0.3% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 331,309 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,468,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $74,080,000 after buying an additional 380,185 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,557 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 85.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 313,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,315,000 after acquiring an additional 144,327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $54.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.50 and a 200 day moving average of $53.19. Schlumberger has a 52 week low of $42.73 and a 52 week high of $62.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.96 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 21.97%. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Schlumberger will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 6th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.25%.

About Schlumberger

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.