Avestar Capital LLC Has $260,000 Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Boston Partners raised its stake in Schlumberger by 35.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,640,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $635,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,395 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the second quarter worth about $92,944,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the second quarter worth about $91,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 14.0% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,067,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $333,445,000 after purchasing an additional 915,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.97.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $43.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $38.66 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.45. The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Schlumberger’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

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.