Promus Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SLB. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 37.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,035 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,812 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 24.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 261,421 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,967,000 after buying an additional 52,134 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 6.5% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,582 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at about $200,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % 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 valued at $12,546,660 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $39.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.70.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio 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.