Rathbones Group PLC Trims Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its SLB stake by 60.5% in the fourth quarter, selling about 1.1 million shares and leaving it with 718,365 shares valued at roughly $27.6 million.
• SLB reported mixed but solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.52 versus $0.51 expected while revenue came in slightly below estimates at $8.72 billion; revenue still rose 2.7% year over year.
• The company remains supported by analyst optimism and dividends, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, a target price of $59.74, and a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share yielding about 2.1% annually.

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 60.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,156,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,999 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,718,458 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,063,834,000 after acquiring an additional 174,564 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 25.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 10.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Stock Up 0.8%

SLB opened at $57.22 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.21. The company has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $57.70. 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 posted its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLB. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, 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. Three 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.com, SLB presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.74.

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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