Cypress Capital Group Trims Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Cypress Capital Group cut its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,197 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Schlumberger by 37.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,035 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 24.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 261,421 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,967,000 after buying an additional 52,134 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Schlumberger by 6.5% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,582 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $200,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SLB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. This trade represents a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $39.47 on Thursday. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.70. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

About Schlumberger

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.