Skylands Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 76,850 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Skylands Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 76,850 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,946,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $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 increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the third 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 valued at $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,607,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,696,000 after purchasing an additional 915,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLB. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $41.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.89.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.