Waverton Investment Management Ltd Purchases 115,547 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,228,411 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 115,547 shares during the period. Schlumberger accounts for about 1.4% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $85,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4,640.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 202,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,501,000 after purchasing an additional 198,360 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Schlumberger by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 47,548 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Schlumberger by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 18,797 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Schlumberger by 9.4% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 24,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 3.6% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 15,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $41.73 on Monday. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $58.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.89.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released 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. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 15.20 % 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 valued at $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.