SLB Limited $SLB Shares Bought by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,512,027 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 288,395 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.24% of SLB worth $120,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in SLB by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in SLB by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SLB by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in SLB by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $51.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.45. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $52.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $76.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.73.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. SLB’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. Freedom Capital lowered SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $54.00 price target on SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Argus raised shares of SLB to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

SLB Company Profile

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.