Heritage Investors Management Corp Increases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 228,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 42,154 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $8,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth about $52,607,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,696,000 after acquiring an additional 915,925 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. This trade represents a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of SLB stock opened at $40.53 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The company has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

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.