Lafayette Investments Inc. Purchases 2,250 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,500 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 1,355.9% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Schlumberger news, VP Kevin Fyfe sold 20,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.05, for a total transaction of $1,052,607.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 31,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,623,855.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $2,426,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,191 shares of company stock valued at $8,636,322. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of SLB traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.01. The company had a trading volume of 6,076,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,134,946. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.60. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $42.73 and a 52-week high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.75. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 12.68%. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 37.67%.

About Schlumberger

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.