Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 3,031,906 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 80.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,788,978 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,031,906 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $229,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 55.3% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 983 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 51.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of SLB by 993.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,651 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on SLB in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Melius assumed coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler set a $42.00 price objective on shares of SLB and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,607.50. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total value of $197,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,795.22. This trade represents a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,947 shares of company stock valued at $3,871,337. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $39.44 on Friday. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $44.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.87 and a 200 day moving average of $35.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.73.

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

SLB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.02%.

About SLB

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.