California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 322,252 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in SLB by 11.7%, adding 322,252 shares to hold 3,068,541 shares (about 0.21%) valued at roughly $105.47 million.
• Insiders have been selling: executives sold 156,902 shares worth about $7.8 million over the last three months, including CAO Howard Guild and CFO Stephane Biguet, leaving insider ownership at 0.16%.
• Operational and shareholder updates: SLB beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.78 vs. $0.74) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, yield ~2.6%), with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 11 and payment on Apr. 2.

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 11.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,068,541 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 322,252 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.21% of SLB worth $105,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp grew its position in shares of SLB by 57.4% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 1,212 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SLB Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE SLB opened at $44.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.53. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $52.45.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. SLB's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Barclays raised their price target on SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $54.00 price target on shares of SLB and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.16.

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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