Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC cut its SLB stake by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 90,000 shares and leaving it with 749,723 shares valued at about $28.8 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on SLB, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $59.74; several firms recently reaffirmed or raised their targets.
• SLB reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, slightly above estimates, and its board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, implying a 2.1% yield.

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 749,723 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 90,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.05% of SLB worth $28,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,974,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,063,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLB by 1,954.3% in the fourth quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 200,497 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 190,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLB. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.74.

SLB Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE SLB opened at $57.22 on Tuesday. 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 $57.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.92.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's payout ratio is 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% 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 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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