Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 48,965 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 670,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 48,965 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $36,736,000 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 118,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,148,000 after purchasing an additional 27,232 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,961 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 12,785 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.56.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.77. 6,713,254 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,043,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $42.61 and a twelve month high of $62.12. The company has a market cap of $67.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.98.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 12.56%. The company had revenue of $9.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,956.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,897.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 286,874 shares of company stock valued at $14,148,517 in the last three months. 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.