Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 200,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $7,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $41.00 on Thursday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $55.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. The trade was a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SLB. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently 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.