Spire Wealth Management Raises Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after acquiring an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,195,290,000 after acquiring an additional 239,966 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,990,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,214,000 after acquiring an additional 31,718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.42 and a 200 day moving average of $42.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed 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. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.