Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its SLB stake by 16.2% in the first quarter, selling 192,169 shares and leaving it with 997,202 shares worth about $51.2 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on SLB, with recent price-target increases from JPMorgan, BMO Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs; the stock currently has a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target of $60.83.
• SLB reported better-than-expected EPS of $0.52 for the quarter, though revenue of $8.72 billion slightly missed estimates; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, yielding about 2.5% annualized.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 997,202 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 192,169 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.07% of SLB worth $51,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SLB in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in SLB during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 97.5% in the fourth 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. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.83.

SLB Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of SLB opened at $46.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $69.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.70. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $58.82.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

About SLB

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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