SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,147 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 31,592 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in SLB were worth $2,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 boosted its position in shares of SLB by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in SLB by 31.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 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 $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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. This represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

SLB Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of SLB opened at $48.10 on Wednesday. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.45. The company has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.26. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 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 business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

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.