Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Shares Down 0.7% – What’s Next?

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s share price dropped 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $41.16 and last traded at $41.50. Approximately 1,799,415 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 14,038,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $57.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.09.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Schlumberger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLB. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.