SLB (NYSE:SLB) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.45 and last traded at $51.3160, with a volume of 6330896 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $54.00 price target on SLB and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Stock Up 0.4%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.54. The company has a market capitalization of $77.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.73. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total value of $201,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at $981,912.25. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLB

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in SLB by 21.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $238,000. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in SLB by 17.0% in the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,719 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 411.7% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of SLB by 19.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 56,561 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 9,210 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.