Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on SLB (NYSE:SLB)

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 404,796 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,173% compared to the typical volume of 31,796 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was 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 owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 162,402 shares of company stock valued at $7,993,676 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 5,041 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in SLB by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in SLB by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in SLB by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SLB by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $51.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.73 and a 200 day moving average of $38.03. SLB has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $51.99. The company has a market cap of $77.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.10%.

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.