Leuthold Group LLC Takes $5.06 Million Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Leuthold Group LLC initiated a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter, buying 131,906 shares valued at about $5.06 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and asset managers holding 81.99% of SLB shares; several major firms, including Vanguard and State Street, also added to their positions recently.
• Analysts remain constructive on SLB, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $59.74, while the company also reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, slightly above estimates.

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 131,906 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $5,063,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,135,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of SLB by 25.2% in 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. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Freedom Capital cut SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.74.

SLB Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $55.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.44 and a 200-day moving average of $45.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.64 and a 1-year high of $57.20.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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