271,323 Shares in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Purchased by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 271,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,403,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $52,607,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,103,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,696,000 after purchasing an additional 915,925 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at about $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE SLB opened at $40.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The firm has a market cap of $55.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Schlumberger Profile

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.