Wall Street Zen Downgrades SLB (NYSE:SLB) to Hold

SLB (NYSE:SLB) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of SLB from $52.30 to $56.10 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $54.00 price objective on SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.16.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $44.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.47. The stock has a market cap of $67.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.68. SLB has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $52.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that SLB will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLB

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SLB during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in SLB by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.