Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in SLB Limited $SLB

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 21,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $812,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new position in SLB during the 4th quarter worth approximately $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in SLB by 10,422.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 3,165,581 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $108,801,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SLB by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLB Price Performance

SLB opened at $57.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $85.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.66 and a 200 day moving average of $46.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $57.88.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.74.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.