Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,700,203 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $590,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. The trade was a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. 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 50 day simple moving average of $41.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.48. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.65.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for 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%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.