Sanford C. Bernstein Upgrades Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to “Strong-Buy”

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $43.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $60.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.75. Schlumberger has a 52 week low of $38.66 and a 52 week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The business had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the second quarter valued at approximately $257,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 15.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 396,382 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,726,000 after purchasing an additional 51,637 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 269.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 14,376 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Schlumberger by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,901,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $89,723,000 after buying an additional 11,813 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 307,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,880,000 after buying an additional 63,413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.