Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires 23,005 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 136,291 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,005 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Schlumberger were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the second quarter valued at about $92,944,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $598,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,684 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,067,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $333,445,000 after purchasing an additional 915,705 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $43.63 on Tuesday. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $38.66 and a one year high of $55.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.98 and a 200 day moving average of $44.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $61.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

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.