Heritage Trust Co Acquires New Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,114 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional increased its stake in Schlumberger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 14,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.68.

Schlumberger Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $33.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $54.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.03. The firm has a market cap of $46.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.285 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Schlumberger news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.