Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its SLB stake by 1.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 15.9 million shares valued at about $817.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with several other funds also adding to positions; overall, hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of SLB shares.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on SLB, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $60.30, while the stock recently traded around $47.01 after a mixed earnings report and a recent quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,901,998 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 169,468 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.06% of SLB worth $817,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 14.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 23,489 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in SLB by 194.4% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 383,317 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $19,699,000 after acquiring an additional 253,117 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in SLB in the 1st quarter valued at $3,570,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in SLB by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 4,384,324 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $225,310,000 after purchasing an additional 294,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SLB in the 1st quarter worth $316,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Barclays cut their price objective on SLB from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on SLB in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on SLB from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.30.

SLB Trading Up 0.0%

SLB opened at $47.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $70.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $31.64 and a 12 month high of $58.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.90 and a 200 day moving average of $50.31.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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