Argyle Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,609,804,000 after buying an additional 1,412,821 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,099,000 after buying an additional 282,709 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,790,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $920,561,000 after buying an additional 292,817 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $488,020,000 after buying an additional 1,954,620 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.67.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.20. The stock had a trading volume of 8,250,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,808,635. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.74 and its 200-day moving average is $52.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $42.73 and a 1-year high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Schlumberger news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 242,932 shares in the company, valued at $11,816,212.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $2,426,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,545 shares of company stock valued at $4,458,430 over the last ninety days. Company 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.