GSA Capital Partners LLP Trims Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

GSA Capital Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 50.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,393 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 27,395 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 72.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,950,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,875,402,000 after buying an additional 37,333,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 85,986,039 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,712,897,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606,191 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,640,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $635,883,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069,395 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,944,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Schlumberger during the second quarter worth $91,364,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $43.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.76. The company has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $38.66 and a 12-month high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.97.

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.