Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 19,738 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 19,738 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 468.9% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.68.

Schlumberger Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $31.98 on Wednesday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $31.42 and a 12 month high of $54.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly 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. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283. 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.