Westerkirk Capital Inc. Boosts Stake in SLB Limited $SLB

Westerkirk Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 93.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 186,596 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,896 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in SLB were worth $7,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its holdings in SLB by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 7,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in SLB by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,949,940 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $804,059,000 after buying an additional 3,913,048 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 97,082 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 31,088 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 378,531 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,528,000 after purchasing an additional 36,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on SLB from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $56.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.03. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $58.82. The company has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.