National Pension Service Acquires 43,874 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,298,736 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 43,874 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Schlumberger worth $119,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,609,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,821 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,099,000 after acquiring an additional 282,709 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,790,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $920,561,000 after acquiring an additional 292,817 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 30.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $488,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 34.9% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on SLB shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.72.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,816,212.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $47.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,453,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,071,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $42.73 and a one year high of $62.12. The firm has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.75. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.