Korea Investment CORP Trims Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Korea Investment CORP cut its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,477,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 197,767 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.11% of Schlumberger worth $56,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 468.9% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $42.14 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $41.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Schlumberger Company 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.