Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,700,203 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.10% of Schlumberger worth $590,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 25.2% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,094 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 7,464 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Schlumberger by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 414,618 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,406,000 after purchasing an additional 199,047 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 136,291 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 23,005 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at about $1,619,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter worth about $645,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. The trade was a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.48. The company has a market cap of $56.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

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.