SLB (NYSE:SLB) Upgraded at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has upgraded SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the stock.
• SLB's stock recently saw a 2.4% increase during trading, with shares opening at $33.43.
• The company reported a net margin of 10.34% and earnings per share of $0.69 for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from a "hold" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday. Atb Cap Markets upgraded SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on SLB in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.00.

SLB Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE:SLB opened at $33.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.97. SLB has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $44.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.49.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.SLB's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $1,433,350.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 202,201 shares in the company, valued at $7,295,412.08. The trade was a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLB by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,317,566 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,080,734,000 after buying an additional 18,672,021 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 478.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,719,476 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,994,674,000 after purchasing an additional 39,474,501 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in SLB by 27.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,829,381 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $824,160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in SLB during the second quarter worth approximately $618,697,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

SLB Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.