Childress Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Childress Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 41.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,547 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third 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 valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,607,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,481,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.