Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Acquires 38,534 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 756,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,534 shares during the quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $29,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted 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 worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 20.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at $52,607,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Schlumberger by 12.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 915,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.87. The stock has a market cap of $56.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SLB. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last three months. Company 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.