Rathbones Group PLC Reduces Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its SLB stake by 3.5% in Q3, selling 66,345 shares to hold 1,817,258 shares valued at about $62.46 million (roughly 0.12% of the company).
• Insiders have been selling: company insiders sold 156,902 shares worth about $7.8 million in the past 90 days, including EVP Abdellah Merad’s sale of 60,000 shares at $49.70, leaving corporate insiders with ~0.22% ownership.
• Analyst outlook and dividend update: SLB has a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $52.96 target (several firms raised targets, Goldman to $60), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 ($1.18 annual, ~2.5% yield).

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,817,258 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 66,345 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.12% of SLB worth $62,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in SLB during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,067,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SLB by 7.6% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 18,801 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of SLB by 6.0% in the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 42,199 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in SLB by 23.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,895,318 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $65,142,000 after purchasing an additional 355,224 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. The trade was a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total value of $201,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $981,912.25. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price target on SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus upgraded SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on SLB from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Three equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.96.

SLB Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $46.86 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $52.45. The stock has a market cap of $70.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.03.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB's payout ratio is 49.79%.

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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