Ellis Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,694 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 49.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 22,111 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Schlumberger by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Schlumberger by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,105,148 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,361,000 after acquiring an additional 215,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E&G Advisors LP boosted its position in Schlumberger by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 13,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $41.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $58.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.01. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s quarterly 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 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 2.73%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. The trade was a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.