Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 4,249 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB cut its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,249 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth $52,607,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at $37,322,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $40.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.17 and its 200-day moving average is $42.28.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SLB. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger 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.