Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 12,938,082 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. Schlumberger comprises approximately 1.1% of Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $500,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Schlumberger by 1,068.3% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SLB shares. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock valued at $8,732,604 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $42.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $59.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.285 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

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.