Central Bank & Trust Co. Grows Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,891 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 2,494.0% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 101,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,278,000 after buying an additional 97,516 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Schlumberger by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $74,080,000 after buying an additional 380,185 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 607,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,726,000 after purchasing an additional 35,763 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth $1,389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $45.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,456,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,342,773. The company has a market capitalization of $65.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.61 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.67.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In related news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 33,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,897.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,897.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,158 shares of company stock worth $5,099,893 over the last three months. 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.