Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Schlumberger Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Schlumberger Limited by 86.2%, selling 108,302 shares during the first quarter and now owning only 17,301 shares worth $723,000.
• Schlumberger reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, beating estimates, although revenues fell 6.5% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285, which represents a yield of 3.4% and demonstrates a 39.04% payout ratio.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 86.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,301 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 108,302 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 300.0% in the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 636 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter valued at $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 584.7% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 986 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Schlumberger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.86.

Schlumberger Stock Up 5.2%

NYSE:SLB traded up $1.7650 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.5750. The company had a trading volume of 16,023,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,363,398. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $46.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 1.03.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 11.53%.The company had revenue of $8.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Schlumberger's payout ratio is presently 39.04%.

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.