National Pension Service Raises Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its holdings in Schlumberger Limited by 5.1%, owning approximately 3.3 million shares valued at about $138.7 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for Schlumberger, with price targets being revised downwards by Barclays and JPMorgan, while there are a total of thirteen buy ratings and two strong buy ratings from various brokerages.
• Schlumberger announced a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.4%, with payout slated for October 9th.

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,317,668 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 160,848 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.24% of Schlumberger worth $138,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 300.0% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 636 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. Barclays cut their price target on Schlumberger from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Schlumberger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets upgraded Schlumberger from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.28.

Schlumberger Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SLB opened at $33.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.72. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $46.16. The stock has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.03.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $8.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Schlumberger's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Schlumberger's payout ratio is presently 39.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total value of $167,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,525 shares in the company, valued at $789,969.50. The trade was a 17.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.

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