Brokerages Set Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Target Price at $58.79

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.79.

SLB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $47,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $37.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48. Schlumberger has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.53. The company has a market capitalization of $53.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Schlumberger will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

Schlumberger 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.