Raymond James & Associates Purchases 215,773 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,105,148 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 215,773 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.08% of Schlumberger worth $46,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLB. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 393.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 204.2% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 297.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Dbs Bank initiated coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.50 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.58.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $41.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $59.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.78. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $38.66 and a 1-year high of $59.05.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.