WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 400 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,661 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after buying an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,195,290,000 after buying an additional 239,966 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after buying an additional 1,916,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,696,000 after purchasing an additional 915,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $41.75 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $58.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.05.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.