SLB (NYSE:SLB) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $54.85 and last traded at $54.7110, with a volume of 3161339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SLB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of SLB from $52.30 to $56.10 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.27.

SLB Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $81.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.01 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was 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 $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in SLB by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after buying an additional 1,080,999 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 84,417,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,263,998,000 after purchasing an additional 799,218 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLB by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,072,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,650 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of SLB by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,423,716,000 after buying an additional 482,533 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SLB by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,292,993,000 after buying an additional 510,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.