BLB&B Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in SLB Limited $SLB

BLB&B Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of SLB by 300.0% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the first quarter worth $33,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the second quarter worth $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the first quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SLB shares. Melius started coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on SLB from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Melius Research started coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on SLB from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded SLB from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.69.

SLB Stock Down 0.7%

SLB opened at $36.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.61.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $1,433,350.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 202,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,295,412.08. This represents a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About SLB

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.