Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 510,747 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its SLB position by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 510,747 additional shares and bringing its stake to 33.84 million shares worth about $1.29 billion.
• Several large institutional investors also boosted holdings in SLB, and the stock is now 81.99% owned by institutions, showing continued professional investor interest.
• Analysts remain generally bullish: SLB has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $59.74, while the company also reported earnings that slightly beat EPS estimates and recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share.

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 510,747 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.26% of SLB worth $1,292,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,371,335,000 after buying an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,898,037,000 after buying an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter worth $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in SLB by 10,422.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 3,165,581 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $108,801,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,496 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SLB by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.74.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $55.12 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.34 and a 200-day moving average of $47.07. The company has a market capitalization of $82.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week 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.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% 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, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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