Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. Buys New Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 130,150 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,990,000. Schlumberger accounts for 5.1% of Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $1,195,290,000 after buying an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after buying an additional 343,261 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $597,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $41.09 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

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.