Gradient Investments LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Gradient Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 396,681 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $4,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in SLB by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,317,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,080,734,000 after acquiring an additional 18,672,021 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in SLB by 30.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in SLB during the second quarter worth about $618,697,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of SLB by 29.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 11,415,740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $409,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of SLB by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,681,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $327,243,000 after purchasing an additional 114,190 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen raised their price target on SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Piper Sandler set a $42.00 target price on SLB and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.27.

SLB Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $38.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.24. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $44.66. The stock has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 10.34%.SLB’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.02%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In related news, Director Peter John Coleman sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.82, for a total value of $197,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,795.22. The trade was a 22.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 38,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total value of $1,412,927.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 175,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,607.50. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,947 shares of company stock valued at $3,871,337. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB 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.