Associated Banc Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Associated Banc Corp lowered its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,339 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,558 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 2,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger 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 value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $43.77 on Tuesday. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $38.66 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $61.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.97.

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.