Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 41,129 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,591,235 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,129 shares during the period. Schlumberger accounts for approximately 2.8% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Schlumberger were worth $591,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Schlumberger by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,146,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,134 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after buying an additional 343,261 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,398,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $597,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,186 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $590,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $1,062,623.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,311,990.68. The trade was a 44.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $34.77 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $32.37 and a fifty-two week high of $55.65.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.79.

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.