JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Stock Price

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on SLB. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $41.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.79. Schlumberger has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during 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 was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Schlumberger will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 198,258 shares of company stock valued at $8,732,604. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.