First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $427,000 Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,127 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new position 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.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $42.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.74 and a 200-day moving average of $42.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results 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. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9,241,140 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,258 shares of company stock valued at $8,732,604 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.