First Business Financial Services Inc. Buys 6,184 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,154 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third 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 bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,607,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,696,000 after purchasing an additional 915,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at about $37,322,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $39.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.62 and its 200-day moving average is $41.70.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Schlumberger Company 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.