SLB Limited $SLB Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.41% of SLB worth $6,371,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of SLB by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in SLB during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $618,697,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 29.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 11,415,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $409,939,000 after buying an additional 2,624,679 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 1.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,681,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $327,243,000 after buying an additional 114,190 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of SLB by 22.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,376,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $316,931,000 after buying an additional 1,717,471 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $48.00 price objective on SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $54.00 price target on shares of SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $50.37 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $75.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $52.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 162,402 shares of company stock worth $7,993,676 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SLB Company Profile

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.