National Pension Service Increases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,298,736 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 43,874 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $119,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,609,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,821 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,099,000 after purchasing an additional 282,709 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Schlumberger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,790,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $920,561,000 after purchasing an additional 292,817 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $488,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $2,426,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,932 shares in the company, valued at $11,816,212.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.72.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SLB traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $47.86. 6,453,268 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,071,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.37. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $42.73 and a 52-week high of $62.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

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.