Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys New Stake in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden opened a new position in SLB during the first quarter, buying 163,200 shares worth about $8.4 million. Other institutional investors also recently added to or increased their SLB holdings, and institutions now own 81.99% of the stock.
• Several SLB insiders sold shares in recent transactions, including Director Patrick De La Chevardiere and EVP Steve Matthew Gassen. Those sales reduced their ownership stakes significantly.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on SLB, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.17. The company also reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, slightly ahead of expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 163,200 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $8,387,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,574,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SLB by 4.3% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 128,660 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in SLB in the 1st quarter valued at $47,528,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in SLB by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,367,063 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $52,468,000 after acquiring an additional 447,667 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in SLB by 65.0% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 81,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.17.

SLB Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE SLB opened at $45.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.60. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $67.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

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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