Ariel Investments LLC Acquires 64,905 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,059,263 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 64,905 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of SLB worth $35,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLB during the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in SLB in the first quarter worth $63,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in SLB by 9.6% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 39,619 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 3,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in SLB during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $1,433,350.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 202,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,295,412.08. This represents a 16.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total transaction of $2,261,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 159,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,006,692.99. This trade represents a 27.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 143,674 shares of company stock worth $5,304,687 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB Trading Up 0.2%

SLB opened at $38.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.01. The company has a market capitalization of $57.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.73. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $44.66.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. SLB’s payout ratio is 44.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $48.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb raised shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Melius Research assumed coverage on SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised SLB from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.28.

About SLB

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.