SLB (NYSE:SLB) Price Target Raised to $56.10 at Sanford C. Bernstein

SLB (NYSE:SLBFree Report) had its price target increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $52.30 to $56.10 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

SLB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Argus raised SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.16.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on SLB

SLB Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $44.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $66.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.68. SLB has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $52.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLBGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total transaction of $201,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at $981,912.25. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC increased its stake in SLB by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC now owns 15,298 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased 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 worth $213,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting SLB

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

SLB Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for SLB (NYSE:SLB)

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