Gradient Investments LLC Has $26.40 Million Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 688,669 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,514 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $26,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 116.1% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 138,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,537,000 after buying an additional 74,451 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 557,533 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,210,000 after purchasing an additional 116,284 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 150,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,638,000 after purchasing an additional 11,735 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 5.5% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the second quarter valued at about $1,180,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $42.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.78. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $59.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.37%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock worth $8,732,604 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.