Alberta Investment Management Corp Grows Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 826.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 898,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 801,800 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in SLB were worth $34,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of SLB by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 82,507 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after buying an additional 23,663 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 333,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,810,000 after acquiring an additional 63,049 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in SLB by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 58,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,698 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in SLB by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 629,044 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $24,143,000 after acquiring an additional 173,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SLB in the 4th quarter valued at $1,688,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $48.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.03. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82.

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

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.83.

More SLB News

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SLB launched a new Digital Marketplace for AI tools and applications, expanding its digital ecosystem and reinforcing its software growth strategy. SLB Expands Digital Reach With New AI Marketplace Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Management signaled a long-term push to double digital business revenue and core profit by 2030, with reports also highlighting up to $2 billion in digital revenue and $10 billion in annual digital spending opportunities. SLB aims to double digital business revenue up to $2B by 2030
• Positive Sentiment: Traders showed strong bullish positioning, with unusual options activity skewing toward calls and volume running well above normal.
• Neutral Sentiment: SLB received added visibility after CEO Olivier Le Peuch appeared on CNBC with Jim Cramer and the company’s investor-day commentary continued to circulate among investors. SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch goes one-on-one with Jim Cramer
• Neutral Sentiment: Market interest also picked up after reports noted SLB and Nvidia’s long-running partnership and the company became a trending stock on Zacks, which may be amplifying trading volume. Nvidia’s Next Huge Bet: Drill, Baby, Drill!

SLB Company Profile

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.