Banco Santander S.A. Sells 3,294 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,294 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $8,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $37,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $41.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger 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.