Weiss Asset Management LP Purchases New Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 889,685 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,322,000. Schlumberger comprises 0.9% of Weiss Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,345,755 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,405,000 after buying an additional 420,663 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,022,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 133,616 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,605,000 after acquiring an additional 17,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.9% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 599,593 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,153,000 after purchasing an additional 16,826 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $42.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $38.66 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

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.