Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 154,834 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,412 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $5,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.8% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,874 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4,640.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 202,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,501,000 after purchasing an additional 198,360 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 28.8% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 15,175 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 17.7% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 349,692 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,670,000 after purchasing an additional 52,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 6.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 47,548 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. This trade represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $41.73 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.285 dividend. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

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.