Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to Equal Weight

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $53.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $68.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reissued a buy rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna reissued a positive rating and issued a $77.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.72.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $47.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.90. Schlumberger has a 1-year low of $42.73 and a 1-year high of $62.12. The company has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total value of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,816,212.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,816,212.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1,180.4% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 653 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.