SLB (NYSE:SLB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on SLB to $61 (from $56) and maintained a "buy" rating, implying roughly an 8.55% upside from the prior close.
• Several other brokers also raised targets, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $54.90.
• SLB reported Q1 EPS of $0.52 (beating the $0.51 estimate) with revenue of $8.72B (up 2.7% YoY but slightly below forecasts), and roughly 82% institutional ownership as major funds increased their stakes.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $56.00 to $61.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.55% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.90.

SLB Trading Up 0.1%

SLB opened at $56.20 on Monday. SLB has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week high of $56.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.79. The firm has a market cap of $84.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that SLB will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,999 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 84,417,217 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,263,998,000 after purchasing an additional 799,218 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,072,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,650 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,423,716,000 after purchasing an additional 482,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,292,993,000 after purchasing an additional 510,747 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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