Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Grows Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,512,027 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 288,395 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in SLB were worth $120,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SLB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SLB in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of SLB in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 51.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SLB. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Barclays increased their target price on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $48.00 price target on SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 target price of $52.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $2,982,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. This represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SLB Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $76.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.73.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.