SLB Limited $SLB Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 194.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 383,317 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 253,117 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in SLB were worth $19,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in SLB by 93.3% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLB Trading Up 0.5%

SLB stock opened at $46.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $69.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.42. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week high of $58.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Susquehanna cut their price target on SLB from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of SLB from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of SLB from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.30.

SLB Company 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.