Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 274,667 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,013,208 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 274,667 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in SLB were worth $103,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in SLB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $618,697,000. Amundi lifted its stake in SLB by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 11,415,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $409,939,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 114,190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $52.40. The company has a market capitalization of $76.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.45. 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 (NYSE:SLB) last posted its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total value of $201,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at $981,912.25. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $54.00 price objective on SLB and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB 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.