SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Short Interest Update

SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 63,175,478 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the February 12th total of 54,457,251 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 14,730,425 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 14,730,425 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

SLB Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $45.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $68.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.68. SLB has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $52.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.65 and a 200-day moving average of $40.63.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. SLB’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In related news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in SLB by 7.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after buying an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on SLB in a report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Freedom Capital lowered SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on SLB from $52.30 to $56.10 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.16.

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.