Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 9,957 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 9,957 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,609,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,821 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,099,000 after acquiring an additional 282,709 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,790,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $920,561,000 after buying an additional 292,817 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 30.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $488,020,000 after buying an additional 1,954,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 34.9% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,693,000 after buying an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SLB shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.72.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB traded down $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,674,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,016,792. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $42.73 and a 1-year high of $62.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,816,212.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.