Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock.

SLB has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Schlumberger from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a positive rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $68.59.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $47.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.57. Schlumberger has a 1-year low of $42.61 and a 1-year high of $62.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.60.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 36.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 38,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total value of $1,838,647.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,213,686.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,158 shares of company stock valued at $5,099,893 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 2,494.0% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 101,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,278,000 after buying an additional 97,516 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Schlumberger by 36.4% during the 4th 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. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Schlumberger by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 607,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,726,000 after buying an additional 35,763 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter worth $1,389,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.