SLB (NYSE:SLB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $51.88 and last traded at $51.2490, with a volume of 3189920 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Freedom Capital lowered SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Stock Up 2.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $77.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.94.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 48.10%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total value of $197,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,795.22. This trade represents a 22.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 200,849 shares of company stock valued at $9,406,603. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,080,999 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 1.5% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 510,747 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,718,458 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,063,834,000 after buying an additional 174,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter worth about $809,557,000. 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.