Legal & General Group Plc Has $389.96 Million Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in SLB by 17.2% in Q3 to 11,345,950 shares, representing about $389.96 million or 0.76% of the company.
• SLB beat quarterly expectations with $0.78 EPS (vs. $0.74 est.) on $9.75 billion revenue (+5% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, ~2.5% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently, disposing of 156,902 shares worth about $7.8 million in the last 90 days, including notable sales by the CFO and another senior insider.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,345,950 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 1,664,196 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.76% of SLB worth $389,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SLB in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in SLB in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp boosted its position in SLB by 57.4% during the third quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 1,212 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.30 and its 200-day moving average is $40.31. The company has a market cap of $72.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $52.45.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB's payout ratio is 49.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.96.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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