Simmons Bank Cuts Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Simmons Bank cut its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,880 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,599 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 1,180.4% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 653 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 746 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motco grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 823 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLB. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.72.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.17. 8,549,661 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,124,442. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $42.73 and a 12-month high of $62.12. The company has a market cap of $68.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.62 and its 200 day moving average is $51.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of Schlumberger 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,816,212.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.