SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.8333.

Several brokerages recently commented on SLB. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $46.95 on Friday. SLB has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $54.22 and its 200 day moving average is $49.37. The company has a market capitalization of $70.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. SLB’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in SLB by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter worth $238,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in SLB during the second quarter worth $8,628,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 76.0% during the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 24,373 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 10,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 7.6% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.