Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Stake Reduced by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,037 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after buying an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,195,290,000 after acquiring an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Schlumberger by 14.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,560,684 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third 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 worth $470,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,990,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $335,214,000 after purchasing an additional 31,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $41.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,258 shares of company stock worth $8,732,604. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.