Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 27.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 348,039 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 129,547 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $17,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in SLB in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of SLB by 93.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting SLB

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SLB exceeded second-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.51 consensus and revenue of $8.97 billion versus $8.67 billion. Sequential revenue growth, margin expansion and stronger cash-flow prospects have prompted analysts to raise forecasts. SLB Analysts Increase Their Forecasts After Upbeat Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms increased their targets: Morgan Stanley raised its target to $55 and kept an Overweight rating, while BMO lifted its target to $63 and maintained Outperform. Goldman Sachs reiterated Buy with a $62 target, citing international recovery and data-center-related digital expansion. Goldman Sachs SLB Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see a stronger 2027 outlook driven by offshore and deepwater activity, digital solutions, production gains from ChampionX and a gradual recovery in international markets. SLB’s Q4 outlook reportedly calls for revenue above $10 billion and an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 24%. SLB Growth Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus is broadly bullish, but the stock’s roughly $50 price remains near its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, suggesting investors are waiting for clearer evidence that the expected recovery will materialize.
• Negative Sentiment: Middle East well shutdowns and geopolitical uncertainty continue to weigh on near-term operations. Falling oil prices, potential delays in regional recovery and elevated net debt could limit earnings momentum and explain why some brokers previously reduced targets. SLB CEO Sends Clear Message on Oil Services Upcycle

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on SLB from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on SLB from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of SLB from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.35.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $50.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.64 and a 1-year high of $58.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.71.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.67 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 8.53%.SLB’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.00%.

SLB Company Profile

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.