Welch Group LLC Has $235,000 Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Schlumberger by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 289,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,135,000 after buying an additional 16,919 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 7.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,870 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,013 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 113,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,781,000 after purchasing an additional 23,567 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 17,489 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.43.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its 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. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger 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.