Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 63,232 Seadrill Limited $SDRL

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 63,232 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SDRL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Seadrill in the second quarter worth about $207,509,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Seadrill by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,719,085 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $214,718,000 after purchasing an additional 160,327 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Seadrill by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,807,933 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,754,000 after buying an additional 23,672 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Seadrill by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,553,281 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $161,671,000 after buying an additional 326,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Seadrill by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,484,940 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $120,579,000 after buying an additional 373,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.67% of the company’s stock.

Seadrill Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:SDRL opened at $49.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 1,633.33 and a beta of 1.22. Seadrill Limited has a 1-year low of $28.10 and a 1-year high of $55.47.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.18. Seadrill had a net margin of 0.07% and a return on equity of 0.64%. The company had revenue of $430.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.46 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Seadrill Limited will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SDRL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Seadrill and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Seadrill from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Seadrill presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.40.

About Seadrill

Seadrill Limited, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SDRL, is a leading provider of offshore drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the design, construction, deployment and operation of mobile offshore drilling units, serving major exploration and production companies with turnkey drilling solutions.

Seadrill’s fleet comprises ultra-deepwater drillships, semi-submersible rigs and high-specification jack-up units capable of operating in some of the world’s most challenging offshore environments.