Capital World Investors Decreases Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Capital World Investors trimmed its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,487,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,810,828 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in SLB were worth $876,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in SLB in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $935,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 18,047 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 7,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in SLB by 73.6% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after buying an additional 16,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $48.10 on Wednesday. SLB Limited has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $52.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.26. The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.68.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors 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 2.5%. 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 49.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. This represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.