Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Bought by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SLB. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Schlumberger by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 761,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,961,000 after buying an additional 156,698 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 502.6% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 198,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after buying an additional 165,162 shares in the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management grew its stake in Schlumberger by 225.5% during the 4th quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 74,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 306,183 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,739,000 after acquiring an additional 16,914 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $41.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $56.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average of $41.47. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.65.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 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.