American Century Companies Inc. Sells 2,347,961 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

American Century Companies Inc. cut its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,152,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,347,961 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.14% of SLB worth $73,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SLB during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in SLB during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in SLB during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in SLB by 51.4% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SLB opened at $47.90 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.83. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.45. The firm has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

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

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SLB. Loop Capital set a $48.00 target price on SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $54.00 price target on SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB 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.