SLB (NYSE:SLB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

SLB (NYSE:SLB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on SLB from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of SLB from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.35.

SLB Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE:SLB opened at $50.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.05. SLB has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.71.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.67 billion. SLB had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SLB will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in SLB by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,156,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,999 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of SLB by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 84,417,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,263,998,000 after buying an additional 799,218 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SLB by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,072,844,000 after buying an additional 1,458,650 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,423,716,000 after acquiring an additional 482,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,292,993,000 after acquiring an additional 510,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Company Profile

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.