Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Makes New Investment in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,440 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SLB. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,830 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 18.8% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 60,405 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 307,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,880,000 after purchasing an additional 63,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $55.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.61. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.