Prospector Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 252,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 30,030 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $10,584,000 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 SLB. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 24.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 127,053 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,330,000 after acquiring an additional 25,368 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Schlumberger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,215,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,000,000 after purchasing an additional 24,377 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 231.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 143,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,029,000 after purchasing an additional 100,335 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,886,082 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $79,762,000 after purchasing an additional 16,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,281 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $43.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $38.66 and a 52 week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 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.