Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 81,045 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in SLB by 65% in Q4, buying 81,045 shares to hold 205,796 shares valued at about $7.90 million per its latest SEC filing.
• SLB announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 (annualized $1.18) with an ex-dividend date of June 3 and a payment date of July 9, implying a yield of roughly 2.1%.
• Analysts have been raising targets on SLB recently and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $58.95.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 65.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 81,045 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $7,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SLB by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,156,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,999 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 worth $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SLB by 25.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $528,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,094,764 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of SLB by 10.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,359,990 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $527,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of SLB by 24.4% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 14,198,874 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $491,139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,783,134 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLB Stock Up 0.2%

SLB stock opened at $57.00 on Friday. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $57.20. The stock has a market cap of $85.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $50.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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