Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $1.23 Million Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,118 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,667 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $735,398,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 43,028.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,652,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $101,708,000 after buying an additional 2,646,653 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $590,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 acquiring an additional 1,533,366 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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 $54.79.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $34.77 on Monday. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $32.37 and a 1 year high of $55.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research 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 was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Schlumberger Company 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.