Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 882,100 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its SLB stake by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 882,100 shares and ending with 1,661,905 shares valued at about $63.8 million.
• Institutional ownership of SLB remains high at 81.99%, with several large investors recently increasing positions, including Vanguard, Norges Bank, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, and Capital International Investors.
• SLB reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, topping estimates by $0.01, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share payable July 9 for a 2.1% yield.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,661,905 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 882,100 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of SLB worth $63,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLB by 23.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of SLB by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,696,831 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $602,444,000 after purchasing an additional 6,149,511 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of SLB by 7.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of SLB by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,627,072 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $446,247,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404,948 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB 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 directly owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.67.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $55.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.70. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $54.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.45.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

About SLB

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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