Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Reduces Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,151 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,498 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in SLB were worth $3,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in SLB by 10.1% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 248,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,526,000 after purchasing an additional 22,706 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in SLB by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,677,257 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $57,647,000 after purchasing an additional 147,175 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SLB by 512.6% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 610,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,157,000 after purchasing an additional 510,929 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in SLB in the third quarter worth $2,530,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in SLB by 3.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,879,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,586,000 after purchasing an additional 54,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded SLB from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.74.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $55.33 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $31.64 and a 12 month high of $57.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.70. The company has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. SLB’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

About SLB

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.