SLB Limited $SLB is MQS Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

MQS Management LLC lifted its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 246.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,907 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,830 shares during the period. SLB accounts for about 0.7% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SLB by 14.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,317,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,080,734,000 after acquiring an additional 18,672,021 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in SLB by 30.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth $618,697,000. Amundi raised its position in SLB by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 11,415,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $409,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,681,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $327,243,000 after buying an additional 114,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 200,849 shares of company stock worth $9,406,603 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Argus raised shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.38.

SLB Trading Down 0.5%

SLB stock opened at $50.31 on Wednesday. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $51.67. 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 $75.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.94.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.10%.

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.