SLB Limited $SLB Position Increased by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 14.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in SLB were worth $541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 478.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,719,476 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,994,674,000 after acquiring an additional 39,474,501 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in SLB by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,829,381 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $824,160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300,222 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of SLB by 4.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,422,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $602,860,000 after purchasing an additional 604,832 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 22.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,989,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $375,738,000 after buying an additional 1,667,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SLB by 3.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,659,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $320,154,000 after buying an additional 281,937 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $33.43 on Tuesday. SLB Limited has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.49. The company has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.97.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. SLB had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 44.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $1,433,350.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 202,201 shares in the company, valued at $7,295,412.08. The trade was a 16.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Melius assumed coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of SLB from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

SLB 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.