SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by ABN Amro Investment Solutions

ABN Amro Investment Solutions reduced its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 26.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,626 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 95,040 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in SLB were worth $8,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 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 $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 140,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,987,919.40. This trade represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. The trade was a 28.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,402 shares of company stock worth $7,993,676. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $50.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.22 and its 200-day moving average is $38.24. 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 capitalization of $75.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.73. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SLB shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

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.