Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires 1,333 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.45 on Thursday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. 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 $40.09 and a 200 day moving average of $42.09.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % 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 valued at $11,442,229 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SLB. 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

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.