Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $12,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third 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 valued at $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,607,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth $37,322,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at $25,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Up 1.3 %

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. 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 Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.14.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Six research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

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.