Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 398,423 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,261,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 398,423 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.69% of SLB worth $477,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SLB in the first quarter worth $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 93.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of SLB from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.35.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $57.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.41. The stock has a market cap of $85.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 8.53%.The business had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 57.00%.

SLB Company 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.