Oppenheimer Downgrades Schlumberger Limited (SLB)

Oppenheimer & Co. is downgrading shares of Schlumberger Limited SLB to Perform from Outperform on recent strength. It had a $83 price target on shares, but removed it. In a research report sent to investors, Oppenheimer writes, "In conjunction with our upgrade of Halliburton today, we are taking advantage of recent strength in SLB to swap out of the name in favor of HAL. We are also removing our $83 price target on SLB. The stock has outperformed its peers since reporting an in-line quarter on October 22. It is clear from recent commentary by industry participants that the International recovery, the crux of our prior Outperform rating, has been pushed back into late 2011 and even 2012. Though we risk missing upside from that eventual recovery, we think investors are better served in HAL, which is much more levered to the current and continuing strength in North America land." Shares of SLB gained 11 cents on Friday to close at $69.89.