Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,535 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after buying an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,146,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,134 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,067,254,000 after purchasing an additional 343,261 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,398,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Schlumberger by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $597,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLB. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $42.23 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average price of $41.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.50. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.65. The company has a market cap of $57.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.