Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 707,991 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 45.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 836,536 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 707,991 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $35,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,944,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the second quarter valued at approximately $91,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $598,544,000 after buying an additional 1,560,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Schlumberger by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,067,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $333,445,000 after buying an additional 915,705 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $43.94 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.36. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $38.66 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.