SLB (NYSE:SLB) Given New $60.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

SLB (NYSE:SLB) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $53.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SLB. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB traded down $0.61 on Wednesday, reaching $47.97. 6,049,377 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,593,088. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.16 and its 200-day moving average is $39.78. SLB has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.45.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of SLB by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,696,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $602,444,000 after buying an additional 6,149,511 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of SLB by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,635,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $638,473,000 after buying an additional 5,589,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.