Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Purchased by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 455,664 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,274 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $17,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,195,290,000 after purchasing an additional 239,966 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,696,000 after purchasing an additional 915,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at $2,192,657.28. This trade represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 1.8 %

SLB opened at $41.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.81. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Company Profile

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.