Pictet North America Advisors SA Lowers Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Pictet North America Advisors SA lowered its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 73.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,847 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 34,765 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 205.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,520 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% in the 3rd 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. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in Schlumberger by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 18,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 29.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 383,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,102,000 after acquiring an additional 86,608 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $42.07 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $58.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.09.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLB. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

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.