Analysts Set SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Price Target at $59.74

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.6667.

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLB

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SLB in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 93.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 71.1% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 780 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of SLB by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Down 5.6%

SLB stock opened at $54.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.80. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $58.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SLB will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

SLB Company Profile

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.