Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Increases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,849,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 746,194 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned 0.20% of Schlumberger worth $140,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 332,965 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,355,000 after buying an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 594,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,208,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter valued at $877,000. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 12,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 12,419 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.85. The stock had a trading volume of 14,077,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,801,590. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.77. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.73 and a fifty-two week high of $62.78.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 21.80%. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value of $355,312.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 188,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,717,077.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Schlumberger news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total transaction of $355,312.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 188,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,717,077.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.24, for a total transaction of $1,807,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 324,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,569,988.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,250 shares of company stock worth $6,441,505 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.36.

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, integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.