7,482 Shares in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) Acquired by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,482 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $735,398,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,986,195 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,913,312,000 after purchasing an additional 5,225,828 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 3,112.1% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,627,051 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $139,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,134 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,737,703 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,101,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119,543 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 43,028.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,652,804 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $101,708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total transaction of $167,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,969.50. This trade represents a 17.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLB. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Schlumberger from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.85.

Schlumberger Price Performance

NYSE:SLB traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.63. 7,240,714 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,775,893. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.67. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $50.94. The company has a market cap of $48.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 1.01.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.01). Schlumberger had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $8.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.64%.

About Schlumberger

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.