Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 271,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,403,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Schlumberger by 2.1% in 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. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $40.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.41 and its 200-day moving average is $41.84.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.