KBC Group NV Cuts Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

KBC Group NV decreased its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,261 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,413 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $4,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 393.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.65. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. 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 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SLB. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,258 shares of company stock worth $11,219,004. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.