Apriem Advisors Lowers Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Apriem Advisors cut its SLB stake by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,675 shares and leaving it with 73,071 shares valued at about $2.8 million.
• Several other major institutions increased their positions, and 81.99% of SLB shares are now held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• SLB reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, slightly ahead of estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share to be paid on July 9.

Apriem Advisors trimmed its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,071 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 45,675 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors' holdings in SLB were worth $2,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,999 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 84,417,217 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,263,998,000 after acquiring an additional 799,218 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SLB by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,006,438 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,072,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458,650 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,095,243 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,423,716,000 after acquiring an additional 482,533 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SLB by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,292,993,000 after acquiring an additional 510,747 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays raised their target price on SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.67.

Insider Activity

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $56.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $58.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $54.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.51.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.53%.

SLB Company 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.

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