Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Buys 21,000 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Hussman Strategic Advisors increased its stake in SLB by 50%, buying an additional 21,000 shares to hold 63,000 shares worth about $2.42 million at quarter-end.
• EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 SLB shares on May 1 for roughly $2.999 million, cutting his personal stake by about 52.96% to 47,421 shares; insiders now own 0.16% of the company.
• SLB beat Q1 EPS expectations with $0.52 (vs. $0.51 est.) on $8.72B revenue, announced a $0.295 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.18, ~2.1% yield), and has seen multiple analyst price-target upgrades with an average target near $58.95.

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $57.00 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.37. The company has a market cap of $85.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $57.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. SLB's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Argus upgraded shares of SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SLB from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Three investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.95.

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.

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