Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 631,564 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,971 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $24,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Schlumberger by 25.9% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 761,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,961,000 after purchasing an additional 156,698 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 27.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 502.6% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 198,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after acquiring an additional 165,162 shares in the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 225.5% in the fourth quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 74,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 306,183 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,739,000 after acquiring an additional 16,914 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Down 0.5 %

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.18 and a 200 day moving average of $41.41. The stock has a market cap of $55.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

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.