Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Acquired by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 204.2% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 90.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 264.0% in the second quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 728 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SLB. UBS Group dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $43.18 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $38.66 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.71.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Company 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.