Benchmark Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $68.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SLB. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a buy rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday. HSBC reissued a buy rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna reissued a positive rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $49.11 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.25. Schlumberger has a fifty-two week low of $42.73 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.75. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, insider Katharina Beumelburg sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total transaction of $420,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,872.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total value of $329,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 249,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,825.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Katharina Beumelburg sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total transaction of $420,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,581 shares in the company, valued at $819,872.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,545 shares of company stock valued at $4,458,430 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,000,292,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Schlumberger by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,379,848 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,922,768,000 after purchasing an additional 8,617,971 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 123,063.5% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 4,347,671 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $226,253,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344,141 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Schlumberger by 79.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,919,990 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $286,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 34.9% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.