Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,111 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 468.9% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLB. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB opened at $41.87 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.46. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.65.

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. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.