NFJ Investment Group LLC Has $15.50 Million Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 62.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 369,535 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 142,489 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $15,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,558 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 2,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 6.5% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America cut their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.31. 1,265,420 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,135,741. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.98 and its 200 day moving average is $44.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $38.66 and a one year high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 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.