Merewether Investment Management LP Decreases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Merewether Investment Management LP lessened its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 82.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 159,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 750,700 shares during the quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $6,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 14.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $598,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,684 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,583,818 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $404,985,000 after purchasing an additional 100,477 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,990,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,214,000 after buying an additional 31,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,067,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $333,445,000 after buying an additional 915,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.97.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

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

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $43.66 on Wednesday. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $38.66 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.29. The stock has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48.

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

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

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.