Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $6.44 Million Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 183,449 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 145,287 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $6,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB by 14.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,317,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,080,734,000 after purchasing an additional 18,672,021 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of SLB during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $618,697,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in SLB by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $683,901,000 after buying an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in SLB by 80.7% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in SLB by 346.3% in the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE:SLB opened at $46.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.11. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $47.73.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $1,412,927.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,607.50. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total transaction of $197,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,795.22. The trade was a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 103,947 shares of company stock valued at $3,871,337. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SLB from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.20.

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.