Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Shares Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) shares shot up 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.17 and last traded at $41.94. 4,198,361 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 14,498,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Up 0.6 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock valued at $8,732,604. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other 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.