Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,468 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,156 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SLB. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 11.1% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,816 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 225,906 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,476,000 after purchasing an additional 4,665 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 4,242,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $177,978,000 after buying an additional 29,200 shares during the period. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 4,952.4% during the third quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 26,525 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.46.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Griffin Securities cut shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

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.