Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Insider Sells $223,224.84 in Stock

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Schlumberger Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE SLB traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.21. 13,101,326 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,281,099. The company has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLB. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.