BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SLB (NYSE:SLB) Stock

SLB (NYSE:SLB) had its target price upped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 8.48% from the company’s current price.

SLB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Susquehanna raised their price target on SLB from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.92.

SLB Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $50.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.72. SLB has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $51.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.89.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 260,849 shares of company stock valued at $11,668,003. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in SLB by 23.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after buying an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after buying an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after acquiring an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $618,697,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in SLB by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $528,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,094,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting SLB

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised ratings/targets and issued bullish notes (BofA raised to $55, BMO to $55, Susquehanna to $58, RBC to $54, JPMorgan to $54; Argus upgraded to “strong-buy”), supporting upside expectations and buy-side demand. Analyst Upgrades Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are re-examining SLB’s role in evolving energy markets and international revenue trends — pieces that provide context on valuation and growth drivers but are not immediate catalysts. Is SLB Pricing Reflect Its Role In Evolving Energy Markets? Interpreting SLB International Revenue Trends
• Negative Sentiment: SLB’s joint venture with Aker Carbon Capture reported a loss on a carbon-capture project, raising near-term execution/asset-quality questions for the CC business. That news could temper enthusiasm for SLB’s energy-transition growth narrative. SLB and Aker CC venture hit by loss on carbon capture project
• Negative Sentiment: Several senior insiders sold material stakes on Jan. 26 (CFO Stéphane Biguet, EVP Abdellah Merad, CAO Howard Guild, director La Chevardière Patrick De, and insider Dianne Ralston). Large insider disposals can be perceived negatively by the market even if they’re routine or for diversification. SEC filings: CFO Read More.; CAO Read More.; EVP Read More.; director Read More.; insider Ralston Read More.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.