Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 5,755,851 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its SLB position by 98% in the first quarter, selling 5.76 million shares and leaving it with 114,815 shares valued at about $5.9 million.
• SLB reported mixed quarterly results, beating EPS estimates with $0.52 per share but slightly missing revenue expectations at $8.72 billion; revenue still rose 2.7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share payable July 9, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $60.83.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 98.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,815 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 5,755,851 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in SLB were worth $5,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter worth $8,574,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in SLB by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,141,868 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $126,303,000 after acquiring an additional 128,660 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in SLB in the first quarter worth about $47,528,000. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in SLB by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,367,063 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $52,468,000 after purchasing an additional 447,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLB by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 81,045 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $46.95 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week high of $58.82. The stock has a market cap of $70.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SLB. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLB has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.

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