Versor Investments LP Purchases Shares of 22,411 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,411 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional raised its position in Schlumberger by 2.4% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in 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 valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $40.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.84. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on SLB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

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.