Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,022 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $3,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.10 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 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.