SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• SLB has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 23 analysts covering the stock: 16 rate it a buy, 3 a strong buy, 3 a hold, and 1 a sell. The average 12-month price target is about $58.95.
• Several firms recently turned more positive on SLB, including Barclays and Bank of America raising price targets, while Susquehanna lifted its target to $65.00. Argus also upgraded the stock to strong buy, though Weiss Ratings trimmed its rating to hold.
• SLB reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, topping estimates by a penny, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $8.72 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, payable July 9, for an annualized yield of about 2.2%.

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.9526.

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLB. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its position in SLB by 93.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in SLB by 71.1% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 780 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its position in SLB by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLB Stock Up 0.4%

SLB opened at $53.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.98. SLB has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $57.20.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that SLB will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

About SLB

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.

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