Sciencast Management LP Purchases Shares of 8,251 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,251 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Schlumberger by 25.9% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 761,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,961,000 after buying an additional 156,698 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Schlumberger by 27.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 502.6% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 198,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after buying an additional 165,162 shares during the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 225.5% in the 4th quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 74,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 306,183 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,739,000 after acquiring an additional 16,914 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $41.09 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $55.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 36.66%.

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.