Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Purchases 9,593 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 180.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,593 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 79.7% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,919,990 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $286,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,706 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 34.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $488,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954,620 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,555,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,609,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.72.

Insider Activity

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

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $47.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.79. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $42.73 and a one year high of $62.12. 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 (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

Schlumberger 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.