Brown Advisory Inc. Trims Stake in SLB Limited $SLB

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,058,143 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 721,326 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in SLB were worth $78,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of SLB by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,141,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $126,303,000 after buying an additional 128,660 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in SLB during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,334,000. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,367,063 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,468,000 after purchasing an additional 447,667 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 81,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719,469 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $65,993,000 after purchasing an additional 42,212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Down 0.3%

SLB stock opened at $56.03 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $58.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLB. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

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.