HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 854,016 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors increased its SLB stake by 82.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 854,016 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,883,802 shares worth about $72.3 million.
• Several major firms also raised their positions in SLB, while analysts turned more upbeat: multiple price targets were increased, and the stock now carries an average “Moderate Buy” rating with a $59.74 target price.
• SLB reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, slightly ahead of estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share to be paid on July 9, implying a 2.1% annualized yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 82.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,883,802 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 854,016 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.13% of SLB worth $72,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in SLB during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in SLB by 10,422.1% during 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 stake in SLB by 25.2% during 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. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLB currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Performance

SLB opened at $57.22 on Thursday. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $57.70. 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 has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.72. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $52.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.21.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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.