Bank & Trust Co Sells 398 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Bank & Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter worth about $47,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, reaching $39.30. 2,771,222 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,196,851. The stock has a market cap of $55.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.27.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.