Fulcrum Asset Management LLP Purchases 17,353 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 25.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,661 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,353 shares during the period. SLB makes up 2.0% of Fulcrum Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP’s holdings in SLB were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SLB by 100.0% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 80,830 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 40,415 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 248,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,526,000 after purchasing an additional 22,706 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of SLB by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 210,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 25,417 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of SLB by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,157,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,354,000 after purchasing an additional 100,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in SLB by 1,937.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 996,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,265,000 after buying an additional 948,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Freedom Capital lowered SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SLB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLB Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $46.13 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $52.45. The firm has a market cap of $69.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.68.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.