Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group raised its SLB stake 2.5% in Q4 to 1,719,469 shares (about $65.99M), part of widespread institutional accumulation that leaves institutions owning 81.99% of the company.
• Several analysts lifted price targets recently (BMO to $63, JPMorgan to $61, Susquehanna to $65), and the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $59.74.
• SLB slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.52 vs. $0.51), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 (annual yield ~2.2%), and has seen notable insider selling, leaving insiders with 0.16% ownership.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,719,469 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,212 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of SLB worth $65,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,371,335,000 after buying an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SLB by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new position in SLB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $178,883,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 10,422.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 3,165,581 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $108,801,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of SLB by 25.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded shares of SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.74.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Down 3.9%

SLB stock opened at $53.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.64 and a fifty-two week high of $57.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.92.

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

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. SLB's dividend payout ratio is 51.53%.

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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