Tredje AP fonden Makes New $8.97 Million Investment in SLB Limited $SLB

Tredje AP fonden bought a new stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 261,013 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,971,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the second quarter valued at approximately $618,697,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of SLB by 30.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after acquiring an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in SLB by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,788,978 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $229,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,031,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in SLB by 346.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,876,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $133,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total transaction of $201,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,912.25. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 162,402 shares of company stock worth $7,993,676 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SLB. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $48.00 price objective on SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Argus raised SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $50.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.73. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $52.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

SLB 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.