Schlumberger Limited $SLB Holdings Lifted by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger Limited by 5.4%, acquiring an additional 17,230 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 336,031 shares valued at approximately $14 million.
• Several major investors, including Charles Schwab and Boston Partners, significantly increased their holdings in Schlumberger, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Schlumberger recently reported quarterly earnings, beating estimates with an EPS of $0.74, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share and a stable dividend yield of 3.2%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 336,031 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,230 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $14,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 478.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,719,476 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,994,674,000 after purchasing an additional 39,474,501 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 27.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,829,381 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $824,160,000 after buying an additional 4,300,222 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 211.1% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,992,997 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $250,507,000 after buying an additional 4,066,500 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the first quarter worth $169,232,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 3,112.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,627,051 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $139,059,000 after buying an additional 3,514,134 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.81. 13,436,375 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,118,300. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $46.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SLB shares. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Schlumberger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.86.

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.