Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 4.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 226,209 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 9,141 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $12,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 10,761 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 12,196 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 2.2% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 10,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 3,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 3.6% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 6,819 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total transaction of $216,281.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,897.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,158 shares of company stock valued at $5,099,893 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.59.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.18. The stock had a trading volume of 14,139,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,274,646. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $42.61 and a 1 year high of $62.12. The company has a market cap of $67.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.57.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.75. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

About Schlumberger

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.