Pitcairn Co. Trims Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Pitcairn Co. trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,311 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after acquiring an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,146,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,134 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 343,261 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,398,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $597,356,000 after buying an additional 1,405,186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In related news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,331,655.04. This trade represents a 15.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $34.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.45. 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 fifty-two week low of $34.04 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.