Biechele Royce Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Biechele Royce Advisors lessened its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,525 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the quarter. Schlumberger comprises about 1.8% of Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings in Schlumberger were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 65,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 6,260 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 142,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,279,000 after purchasing an additional 14,613 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 111.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 55,449 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares in the last quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 215,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,565,000 after purchasing an additional 15,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 331,480 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,325,000 after purchasing an additional 37,449 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,897.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,158 shares of company stock valued at $5,099,893 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLB. Citigroup cut their target price on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Bank of America cut their target price on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.18.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB traded up $0.90 on Thursday, hitting $46.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,239,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,156,501. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $42.61 and a 12 month high of $62.12. The company has a market capitalization of $66.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

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.