Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,900 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 205.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,520 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 18,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 383,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,102,000 after purchasing an additional 86,608 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SLB opened at $42.07 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $58.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.09.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.