SLB Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SLB)

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 42,110 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average daily volume of 29,077 call options.

SLB Price Performance

SLB traded up $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,895,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,308,014. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. SLB has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $47.73.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.02%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total transaction of $2,261,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 159,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,006,692.99. The trade was a 27.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $1,412,927.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 175,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,607.50. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 103,947 shares of company stock worth $3,871,337 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,371,335,000 after acquiring an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the second quarter valued at about $618,697,000. State Street Corp increased its position in SLB by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in SLB by 30.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter worth about $178,883,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their target price on SLB from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Redburn Partners set a $48.00 price target on SLB in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.20.

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.