Advisors Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,959 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,172 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $4,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of SLB by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLB during the 4th quarter worth about $238,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in SLB by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 48,535 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 16,416 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in shares of SLB by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,494 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SLB by 79.0% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,389,748 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $99,891,000 after buying an additional 1,054,498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Stock Up 1.8%

SLB stock opened at $36.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.76. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $55.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. SLB had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb upgraded SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on SLB from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on SLB from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $1,433,350.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 202,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,295,412.08. This represents a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total value of $2,261,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 159,371 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,692.99. This represents a 27.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 138,174 shares of company stock worth $5,107,677 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLB 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.