Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Stake Cut by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,969 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,125 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 356.9% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,834 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 31.0% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,026 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 14,219 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth $2,323,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $2,955,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 36.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 785,975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,822,000 after buying an additional 209,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,897.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 38,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total transaction of $1,838,647.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,213,686.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at $1,612,897.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,158 shares of company stock worth $5,099,893 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.90. 5,134,438 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,065,957. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.61 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

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.