Caprock Group LLC Takes $2.28 Million Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 61,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,275,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in SLB by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Hedges Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLB by 0.9% during the third quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 31.6% during the third quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,627.90. This represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 162,402 shares of company stock worth $7,993,676 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $48.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

SLB Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $50.64 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $52.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.12. The stock has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.79%.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.