Van Strum & Towne Inc. Sells 3,573 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. decreased its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,573 shares during the quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,029,034 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,453,000 after purchasing an additional 379,967 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 35,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after acquiring an additional 343,261 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 156,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,993,000 after acquiring an additional 28,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 127,673 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. The trade was a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $41.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.95 and its 200 day moving average is $41.52. 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 $55.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.