Madison Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 34,649 SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management disclosed a new stake in SLB, buying 34,649 shares valued at about $1.33 million in the fourth quarter. Other institutional investors also made small additions, and institutions now own 81.99% of the stock.
• SLB reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, topping estimates by a penny, while revenue came in at $8.72 billion, slightly below expectations but still up 2.7% year over year. Analysts currently expect SLB to earn $2.61 per share for the full year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, or $1.18 annually, for a yield of about 2.1%. Several Wall Street firms also raised their price targets, with consensus sentiment remaining Moderate Buy and an average target of $59.74.

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,649 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,330,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. boosted its position in shares of SLB by 97.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $55.70 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $83.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.29 and a 200 day moving average of $45.63. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $31.64 and a 12 month high of $57.20.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. SLB's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SLB. Piper Sandler upped their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.74.

SLB 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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