Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 997,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 192,169 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in SLB were worth $51,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in SLB by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after buying an additional 1,080,999 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in SLB by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 84,417,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,263,998,000 after buying an additional 799,218 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SLB by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,072,844,000 after buying an additional 1,458,650 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of SLB by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,423,716,000 after acquiring an additional 482,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLB by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,292,993,000 after acquiring an additional 510,747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $46.41 on Tuesday. 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 $69.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.12 and a 200-day moving average of $49.51.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value 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. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.83.

SLB 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.