Banco Santander S.A. Increases Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 263,927 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 18,949 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in SLB were worth $9,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in SLB by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the 4th quarter worth about $238,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in SLB by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in SLB by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 23,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 8,975 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in SLB by 17.0% during the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,719 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.38.

SLB Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $76.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 3.50 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.45. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $52.40.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 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 transaction of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.