New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Trims Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 67,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SLB shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $41.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.05. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $58.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,331,655.04. The trade was a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.