Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB – Get Rating) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Schlumberger had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $7.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $57.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.53. Schlumberger has a fifty-two week low of $30.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $81.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.79.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 7th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 29.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $758,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,932 shares in the company, valued at $1,783,267.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $758,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,932 shares in the company, valued at $1,783,267.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 10,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $551,092.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,865.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,496,976 shares of company stock worth $196,612,911 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 1,802.7% in the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP raised its position in Schlumberger by 572.9% in the second quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 99,975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 85,118 shares during the period. Finally, Somerville Kurt F bought a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Griffin Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 25th. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.04.

About Schlumberger

(Get Rating)

Schlumberger NV engages in the provision of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The Digital and Integration segment combines the company’s software and seismic businesses with its integrated offering of asset performance solutions.