Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Purchases New Shares in SLB Limited $SLB

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 120,910 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,641,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of SLB by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of SLB by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $54.79 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $54.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.80. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.64 and a 52-week high of $58.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.