SLB (NYSE:SLB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

SLB (NYSE:SLB) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.45. SLB has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $52.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in SLB by 100.0% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 80,830 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 40,415 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 248,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,706 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in SLB by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 210,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,220,000 after acquiring an additional 25,417 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in SLB by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,157,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,354,000 after purchasing an additional 100,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in SLB by 1,937.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 996,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,265,000 after purchasing an additional 948,015 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.