Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Buys 16,274 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 455,664 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,274 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $17,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLB. Citigroup upped their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of SLB opened at $41.63 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $56.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.81.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.