Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,134,661 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,862 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $81,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $735,398,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 43,028.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,652,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $101,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646,653 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 worth $590,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,203 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,312,304 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $88,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533,366 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 210,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Down 11.3 %

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $34.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $34.04 and a 1 year high of $55.65. 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 (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.