SLB Limited $SLB Shares Purchased by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,718,458 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,564 shares during the quarter. SLB comprises 1.9% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $1,063,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Steph & Co. lifted its position in SLB by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $55.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.21. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $57.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

SLB Profile

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.