Meritage Portfolio Management Raises Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in SLB by 45.6% in Q4, buying an additional 33,549 shares to hold 107,157 shares worth about $4.11 million.
• SLB beat Q4 estimates with $0.78 EPS (vs. $0.74 est.) and revenue of $9.75 billion (up 5% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, ~2.3% yield).
• Analysts have pushed price targets higher (e.g., Goldman to $60, Piper Sandler to $59, JPMorgan to $54), leaving a consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $54.27, while insiders sold about 156,902 shares (~$7.8M) over the last 90 days.

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 45.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,157 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 33,549 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in SLB were worth $4,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 84,740 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of SLB by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,277 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,165 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,380 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $52.14 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $49.96 and its 200 day moving average is $43.22. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $54.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on SLB in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLB presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.27.

Insider Activity at SLB

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

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.

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.