Kempner Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Kempner Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 109,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Schlumberger accounts for 2.3% of Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $4,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $500,082,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 20.6% in 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 worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at $37,322,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $25,481,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 395.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 778,938 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,676,000 after purchasing an additional 621,809 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 258,258 shares of company stock worth $11,219,004. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.03 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.65. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

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.