Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,680 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Schlumberger 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.