Banque Pictet & Cie SA Decreases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA decreased its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 268,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,081 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $10,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Schlumberger by 205.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 10,520 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 393.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 10.9% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 18,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 29.1% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 383,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,102,000 after buying an additional 86,608 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB opened at $42.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.09. The company has a market cap of $58.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

About Schlumberger

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.