Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Purchased by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,258,919 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 740,127 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $124,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,343,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,447,000 after purchasing an additional 144,031 shares in the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. boosted its position in Schlumberger by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 25,495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth $914,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE SLB opened at $42.14 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The firm has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.43. 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 (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.