Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Acquired by Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $12,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.3 %

SLB stock opened at $41.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.14.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Schlumberger’s dividend 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.