Calamos Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 558,506 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $21,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 393.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 1,068.3% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SLB shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SLB opened at $40.16 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.49. 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 $56.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

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.