SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 9.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 192,967 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 20,248 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in SLB were worth $9,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of SLB by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $47.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.98.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 51.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of SLB from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of SLB from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.80.

SLB Profile

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.