Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 52,483 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 80% compared to the typical volume of 29,194 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 761,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,961,000 after buying an additional 156,698 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 817,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,305,000 after buying an additional 65,318 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 502.6% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 198,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after buying an additional 165,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 269.1% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 14,376 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $39.05 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.72. Schlumberger has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $53.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

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.