Aspire Private Capital LLC Buys 1,645 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 20.6% during 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 worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 14.0% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 1,560,684 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the second quarter worth about $42,957,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 395.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 778,938 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,676,000 after buying an additional 621,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,258 shares of company stock worth $11,246,604 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $43.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $61.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.81.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

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.