Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 48.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,824 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Schlumberger by 1,068.3% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at $10,331,655.04. The trade was a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock worth $8,732,604. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SLB shares. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.99 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.79 and its 200 day moving average is $42.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

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.