Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Price Target Cut to $60.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

SLB has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Schlumberger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.29.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB opened at $42.76 on Monday. Schlumberger has a 12-month low of $38.66 and a 12-month high of $61.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Schlumberger will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 50,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $2,499,397.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,141,615.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 50,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $2,499,397.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,141,615.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.29, for a total transaction of $492,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,428.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,716 shares of company stock valued at $9,048,624 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 379.4% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 279.8% in the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 32,441 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 23,900 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,603,000. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $788,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,043,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.