Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 59.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,920 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,863 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund's holdings in SLB were worth $4,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of SLB by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 761,324 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $39,124,000 after buying an additional 11,601 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 7.2% during the first quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 53,539 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 3,608 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 1.2% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 612,170 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,459,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in SLB by 14.4% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 14,881 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the first quarter worth $275,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company'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 value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key SLB News

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SLB beat second-quarter expectations, reporting $0.55 in earnings per share versus the $0.51 consensus estimate and $8.97 billion in revenue versus $8.67 billion expected. Revenue increased 5% year over year, supporting the view that international oilfield-services activity remains resilient. The results also increased attention on energy ETFs with significant SLB exposure, including IEZ, OIH and XLE. Here's How SLB's Q2 Earnings Impact Energy ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its SLB price target to $63, while Morgan Stanley said the stock is expected to rise. Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a $62 target, citing an international recovery, data-center expansion opportunities and potential for above-peer earnings and returns. These targets imply meaningful upside from recent trading levels. BMO Capital Markets Increases SLB Price Target to $63.00 SLB Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term valuation analysis described SLB as reasonably priced, with potential upside based on discounted cash-flow estimates. Offshore scale, digital services, production gains from ChampionX and data-center infrastructure initiatives are cited as growth drivers. SLB Stock Looks Reasonable Despite Its Five Year Run
• Neutral Sentiment: SLB has attracted unusually high investor and Zacks.com user interest following its earnings report, but the attention itself does not establish a clear change in fundamentals or valuation. SLB Is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded SLB from “hold” to “strong sell,” likely weighing on sentiment and helping explain why the stock has decreased despite the earnings beat and bullish broker targets. Zacks Downgrades SLB
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term risks include Middle East disruptions, uncertainty around oil prices, elevated net debt and the possibility that earnings growth will take longer to materialize. SLB’s $0.55 quarterly EPS also remained below the $0.74 reported in the prior-year period. SLB Growth Outlook Hinges on Offshore, Digital and Production Gains

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $49.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.44. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company's 50-day moving average is $50.75 and its 200 day moving average is $50.74.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.67 billion. SLB had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. SLB's payout ratio is presently 57.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of SLB from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on SLB from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.35.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.