Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) were down 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $41.96 and last traded at $42.09. Approximately 2,389,724 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 15,028,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $58.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock valued at $8,732,604. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at $52,607,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter worth $37,322,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth $25,481,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Schlumberger

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.