SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.2684.

Several brokerages recently commented on SLB. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Evercore set a $54.00 price objective on SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

SLB Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $52.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04. SLB has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $54.80. The company has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total transaction of $201,160.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,912.25. This trade represents a 17.00% 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 dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,987,919.40. This trade represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLB. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of SLB by 66.3% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 7,803 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in SLB by 15.5% during the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,409 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in SLB during the 1st quarter worth $230,000. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake in SLB by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 6,179 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. Finally, First City Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in SLB in the 1st quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.