River Global Investors LLP Purchases New Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

River Global Investors LLP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 85,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,423,000. Schlumberger makes up 0.8% of River Global Investors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Schlumberger by 79.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,919,990 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $286,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,706 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 30.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $488,020,000 after buying an additional 1,954,620 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 48.2% during the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,555,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $323,895,000 after buying an additional 1,807,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $7,609,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.72.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.2 %

Schlumberger stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.66. The stock had a trading volume of 11,007,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,961,223. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $42.73 and a 12 month high of $62.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

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

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.