Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Decreases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,554 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,458 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 2.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 225,906 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,476,000 after buying an additional 4,665 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 3.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 148,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,240,000 after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 31,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.5% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 64,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $41.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SLB. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

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.