Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 51,318 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 96% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,134 put options.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the second quarter worth about $91,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 14.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $598,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560,684 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,067,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $333,445,000 after purchasing an additional 915,705 shares during the period. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in Schlumberger in the second quarter worth approximately $42,957,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLB. TD Cowen cut their target price on Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.79.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB remained flat at $37.73 during midday trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 8,143,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,282,867. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.69 and a 200 day moving average of $43.62. Schlumberger has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $53.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.42 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.

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

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.