Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Makes New $5.99 Million Investment in SLB Limited $SLB

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 116,510 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,987,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SLB. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in SLB by 93.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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 report on Thursday, June 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on SLB from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on SLB from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.35.

SLB News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SLB’s second-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.51 consensus and revenue of $8.97 billion versus $8.67 billion expected. Revenue increased 5% year over year, renewing interest in the oilfield-services provider and energy ETFs with significant SLB exposure, including IEZ, OIH and XLE. How SLB’s Q2 Earnings Impact Energy ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its SLB price target to $63, while a Morgan Stanley analyst also expects the stock to rise. Analysts broadly remain optimistic after SLB outperformed the broader market over the past year. BMO Raises SLB Price Target Morgan Stanley’s SLB Outlook Wall Street Analysts’ View of SLB
• Neutral Sentiment: SLB has attracted unusually high investor attention, but the coverage does not identify a specific new fundamental catalyst beyond its earnings performance and analyst outlook. SLB Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite a roughly 93% five-year return, a discounted-cash-flow analysis indicates potential value above the current share price. However, the valuation depends on continued growth in energy services and SLB’s data-center infrastructure initiatives. SLB Valuation Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded SLB from “hold” to “strong sell,” creating a notable bearish counterpoint to the otherwise favorable analyst consensus. Zacks Downgrade Report

SLB Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $48.91 on Friday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.77. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $58.82. The company has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.67 billion. SLB had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

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

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.