Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,993 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 2,494.0% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 101,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,278,000 after buying an additional 97,516 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $74,080,000 after purchasing an additional 380,185 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 607,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,726,000 after purchasing an additional 35,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,389,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.31. 6,655,483 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,155,903. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.61 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,897.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,897.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,158 shares of company stock worth $5,099,893. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SLB. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.59.

Schlumberger Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.