SLB (NYSE:SLB) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $40.20, but opened at $43.00. SLB shares last traded at $44.4380, with a volume of 15,387,534 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SLB. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SLB from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SLB from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on SLB from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.42.

SLB Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.53. The stock has a market cap of $67.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. SLB had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.02%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total value of $1,412,927.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 175,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,607.50. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total value of $2,261,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 159,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,006,692.99. This trade represents a 27.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 103,947 shares of company stock valued at $3,871,337 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLB

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in SLB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new position in SLB during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.