Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 159.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,515 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,801 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,195,290,000 after buying an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after acquiring an additional 343,261 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $597,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLB. 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. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of SLB opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.42. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. 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 market cap of $57.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,245,799.89. This trade represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.