FIL Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

FIL Ltd lowered its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 77.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 390,845 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,329,187 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $14,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 468.9% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Schlumberger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.68.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $33.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $54.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.99 and its 200 day moving average is $41.03.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. 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 business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $1,062,623.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,990.68. This represents a 44.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.26% 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.