SLB (NYSE:SLB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.99 and last traded at $57.98, with a volume of 740391 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.74.

SLB Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $86.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in SLB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,999 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in SLB by 1.0% in the fourth 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 position in SLB by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,072,844,000 after buying an additional 1,458,650 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in SLB by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,423,716,000 after buying an additional 482,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 510,747 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.