Howland Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 156,698 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Schlumberger by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 817,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,318 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 269.1% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 14,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 26.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 307,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,880,000 after purchasing an additional 63,413 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLB. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $40.15 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. 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.