Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 2,646,653 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 43,028.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,652,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,646,653 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $101,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 468.9% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $56.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.48. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.65. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

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.