TCW Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

TCW Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 2.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 97.7% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,734 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 8,765 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 16.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 31,510 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 4,406 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in Schlumberger by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 761,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,961,000 after purchasing an additional 156,698 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 24,276 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 716,427 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.91.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $38.66 and a 52-week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The company 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%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. 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.