Rathbones Group PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 24.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 541,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 177,096 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $27,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SLB in the first quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of SLB by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on SLB from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $49.58 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.80. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.64 and a 52-week high of $58.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.73.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 8.53%.The company had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.00%.

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.