Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Acquired by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $735,398,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 43,028.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,652,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $101,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646,653 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $590,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,203 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 196.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,312,304 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $88,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $1,062,623.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,311,990.68. This trade represents a 44.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, 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 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Schlumberger Trading Down 11.3 %

Shares of SLB stock opened at $34.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $34.04 and a 1-year high of $55.65. The firm has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of 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, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.79.

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.