Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Holdings Decreased by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,047 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Schlumberger were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $88,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533,366 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,607,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,461,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $41.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.48. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. Schlumberger’s quarterly 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS 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. This is a positive change 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 2.77%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. 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.