Guardian Investment Management Buys New Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Guardian Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 31,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1,068.3% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the third quarter worth about $47,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $43.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.87. The company has a market capitalization of $61.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced 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 company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger 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.