Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 19,438 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 132.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,438 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 71,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 17,405 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,146,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,134 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 502.6% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 198,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after purchasing an additional 165,162 shares in the last quarter. Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter worth about $375,000. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 220,685 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,461,000 after buying an additional 63,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total transaction of $167,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,969.50. This trade represents a 17.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $1,062,623.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,990.68. This represents a 44.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Schlumberger Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $33.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $50.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.67.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.64%.

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.