Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 891,391 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 891,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,176,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $735,398,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in Schlumberger by 9.9% in 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 during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $41.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.29 and its 200-day moving average is $41.46. The company has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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, 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 the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. This represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.