Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 30,800 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 389,252 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in SLB were worth $13,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of SLB by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. Callan Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 112.9% in the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 12,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 6,477 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of SLB by 14.2% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,954 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 28.3% in the second quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 22,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SLB. Evercore set a $54.00 target price on shares of SLB and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $50.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $52.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. This trade represents a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total transaction of $197,010.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,795.22. The trade was a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 162,402 shares of company stock valued at $7,993,676 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLB Company Profile

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.