Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB – Get Rating) by 9.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,164 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,309 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $395,000. CastleArk Alternatives LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $441,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 137,488 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after buying an additional 46,170 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. now owns 100,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,138,152 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $76,909,000 after buying an additional 102,587 shares during the period. 80.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 10,493 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $551,092.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,865.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Schlumberger news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 10,493 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $551,092.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,865.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 33,063 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.99, for a total value of $1,884,260.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,051,298.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,696 shares of company stock valued at $15,227,195 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $46.18 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $30.65 and a 12-month high of $62.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.47.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $7.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 41.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Raymond James assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Friday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Griffin Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, January 16th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Schlumberger from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.38.

Schlumberger Profile

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Schlumberger NV engages in the provision of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The Digital and Integration segment combines the company’s digital solutions and data products with its Asset Performance Solutions (APS).