Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 18,433 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,603 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,433 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $4,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in Schlumberger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 14,775 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.32.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.51. The company had a trading volume of 7,407,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,430,644. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $50.94. The firm has a market cap of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $37.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.64%.

Insider Activity

In other Schlumberger news, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $1,062,623.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,990.68. This represents a 44.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. The trade was a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.