Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 33,841 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 980,431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,841 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.07% of Schlumberger worth $51,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Schlumberger by 35.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 39,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 10,240 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the first quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the first quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 112,003 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.87.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares in the company, valued at $12,688,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 38,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $1,944,699.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 386,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,504,523.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 172,191 shares of company stock valued at $8,636,322. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.81. The company had a trading volume of 8,032,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,147,452. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.60 and a 200 day moving average of $53.15. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.73 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 12.68%. The firm had revenue of $8.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.25%.

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.