Huntington National Bank Buys 281,994 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Huntington National Bank increased its SLB stake by 40% in the fourth quarter, buying 281,994 additional shares and ending with 986,168 shares valued at about $37.8 million.
• Other major institutional investors also boosted positions in SLB, and institutions now own 81.99% of the company, while insiders hold just 0.16%.
• Analysts remain generally positive on SLB: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $59.74, and the company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, slightly topping estimates, alongside a new quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share.

Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 986,168 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 281,994 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank owned approximately 0.07% of SLB worth $37,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in SLB by 23.3% during the third 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 buying an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in SLB by 7.0% during the third 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 buying an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in SLB by 10,422.1% during the third 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 buying an additional 3,135,496 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SLB by 25.2% during the third 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 buying an additional 3,094,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.74.

SLB Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE SLB opened at $56.53 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $53.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.94. SLB Limited has a twelve month low of $31.64 and a twelve month high of $58.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $84.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.72.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. SLB's payout ratio 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report).

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.