Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 959 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 959 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brown Financial Advisors increased its position in Schlumberger by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 32,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,948,000 after acquiring an additional 17,786 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at about $226,000. Skylands Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,946,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In related news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company 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 revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

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.