Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Position Cut by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,265 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,532,000 after acquiring an additional 21,435 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Schlumberger by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 19,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 222,414 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,889 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This trade represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $40.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

About Schlumberger

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.