Schlumberger Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SLB)

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 38,335 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average volume of 24,393 call options.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total transaction of $167,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,525 shares in the company, valued at $789,969.50. This trade represents a 17.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $1,062,623.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,311,990.68. This represents a 44.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Schlumberger by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $35.52 on Wednesday. Schlumberger has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $50.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.51. The company has a market cap of $48.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.01). Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 38.64%.

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.