Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLBGet Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 38,335 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 57% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,393 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total transaction of $167,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,525 shares in the company, valued at $789,969.50. This trade represents a 17.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $1,062,623.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,990.68. The trade was a 44.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,815,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

Read Our Latest Analysis on SLB

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $35.68 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.49. Schlumberger has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $50.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLBGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 38.64%.

Schlumberger Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.

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