Freedom Capital Downgrades SLB (NYSE:SLB) to Strong Sell

SLB (NYSE:SLB) was downgraded by Freedom Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on SLB. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI set a $54.00 target price on shares of SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on SLB in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLB has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.92.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $50.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.89. SLB has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $51.67. The firm has a market cap of $75.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at $6,987,919.40. This represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 260,849 shares of company stock valued at $11,668,003 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of SLB by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,399,691 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $54,100,000 after acquiring an additional 71,373 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 13,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in SLB by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 107,157 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,113,000 after purchasing an additional 33,549 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in SLB by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 538,313 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $20,660,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about SLB

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised ratings and price targets this week (Bank of America, BMO Capital, Susquehanna to $58, RBC, JPMorgan, Argus upgrade), signaling stronger upside expectations and supporting buy-side demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat revenue and EPS estimates and management also raised the quarterly dividend to $0.295, giving investors a combination of earnings momentum and income support. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional holders have been increasing stakes over recent quarters (e.g., Vanguard, State Street, Franklin), which provides structural demand beneath the shares. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are re?examining SLB’s valuation and international revenue mix as the energy transition and global capex cycles evolve — useful context but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fundamental deeper-dive on international revenue exposure that helps frame longer?term growth and risk but is unlikely to move the stock by itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Coordinated insider selling: several senior executives and directors (including the CFO, EVP, CAO and others) disclosed sizeable share sales on Jan. 26. Large insider disposals can create short?term investor concern even if they are for personal diversification. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: SLB’s joint venture with Aker Carbon Capture reported a loss on a carbon?capture project, which raises near?term execution and margin questions for its carbon?capture/energy?transition initiatives. Read More.

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.