Ballast Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Ballast Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 62,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,624,000. Schlumberger accounts for approximately 0.8% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 300.0% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 265.4% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 961 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 584.7% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 986 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.7%

SLB stock opened at $35.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $49.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.39.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $8.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total transaction of $167,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,525 shares in the company, valued at $789,969.50. The trade was a 17.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.28.

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.