Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 959 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,195,290,000 after buying an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during 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 raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% during the 3rd 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 worth $470,425,000 after buying an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,696,000 after acquiring an additional 915,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $41.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.86. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.