Rathbones Group PLC Sells 1,098,893 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its SLB stake by 60.5%, selling 1,098,893 shares and leaving 718,365 shares valued at about $27.57 million at the end of the quarter.
• Insiders sold 156,902 SLB shares worth roughly $7.8 million last quarter (including CAO Howard Guild and Dianne B. Ralston), while institutions hold about 81.99% of the stock and insiders just 0.16%.
• SLB beat Q4 estimates (EPS $0.78 vs. $0.74; revenue $9.75B vs. $9.54B), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, ~2.4% yield), and analysts have lifted price targets (average $53.16, consensus "Moderate Buy").

Rathbones Group PLC cut its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 60.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 718,365 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,098,893 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in SLB were worth $27,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,543 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,211 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,350 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in SLB by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,706 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Finally, LifePlan Financial LLC raised its stake in SLB by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 31,319 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $49.44 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $49.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $54.80.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is an increase from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SLB's payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.16.

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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