Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Grows Stock Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,955 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 33,489 shares during the period. SLB accounts for approximately 1.2% of Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in SLB were worth $10,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in SLB by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SLB by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLB by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total value of $201,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $981,912.25. This represents a 17.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $48.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.68. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $52.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. SLB’s payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on SLB in a report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.38.

SLB Company Profile

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.