Intermede Investment Partners Ltd Buys 65,900 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Intermede Investment Partners Ltd grew its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,900 shares during the quarter. Schlumberger makes up 0.3% of Intermede Investment Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $12,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $40.06 on Thursday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.56. 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 (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 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 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger 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.