Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires Shares of 94,352 SLB Limited $SLB

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 94,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SLB by 14.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,317,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,080,734,000 after buying an additional 18,672,021 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in SLB by 30.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after acquiring an additional 4,719,852 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in SLB during the second quarter worth $618,697,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in SLB by 29.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 11,415,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $409,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of SLB by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,681,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $327,243,000 after purchasing an additional 114,190 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $49.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.38. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $51.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.73.

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

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is presently 48.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total transaction of $197,010.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at $668,795.22. This trade represents a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 260,849 shares of company stock valued at $11,668,003 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SLB. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.17.

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.