Tobam Cuts Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Tobam lowered its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 58,363 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after buying an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,195,290,000 after acquiring an additional 239,966 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,990,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,214,000 after purchasing an additional 31,718 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SLB. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Six research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $40.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.35. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $56.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.37%.

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.