Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $35.67 and last traded at $35.21, with a volume of 10164085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.79.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % 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, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $735,398,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,986,195 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,913,312,000 after purchasing an additional 5,225,828 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 3,112.1% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,627,051 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $139,059,000 after buying an additional 3,514,134 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Schlumberger by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,737,703 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,101,804,000 after buying an additional 3,119,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Company Profile

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.