Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Trading Down 2.3% After Insider Selling

Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) traded down 2.3% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $42.44 and last traded at $42.73. 5,069,767 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 13,889,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.74.

Specifically, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Down 4.8 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $500,082,000 after acquiring an additional 12,938,082 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $598,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,684 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in Schlumberger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,957,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Company 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.