Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,702,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 784,740 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $141,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 584,616 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $22,414,000 after acquiring an additional 64,018 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $4,748,000. Kerusso Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,384,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 22,317 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 8,011 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Trading Up 2.1 %

SLB stock opened at $42.63 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The firm has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.51.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock valued at $11,442,229. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SLB. Barclays cut their target price on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger 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.