Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in SLB Limited by 16.5%, owning a total of 448,300 shares valued at approximately $15.15 million as per their latest SEC filing.
• SLB announced a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, set to be paid on January 8, translating to an annual dividend yield of 3.4%.
• The company reported $0.69 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates while experiencing a 2.5% year-over-year revenue decline with total revenue of $8.93 billion.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 16.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 448,300 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,500 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $15,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the first quarter valued at about $169,232,000. Scharf Investments LLC increased its position in shares of SLB by 20.5% during the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,653,895 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $69,133,000 after buying an additional 281,773 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the first quarter valued at about $308,000. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of SLB by 48.1% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 62,737 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,121,000 after buying an additional 20,387 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of SLB by 9.6% during the second quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 493,092 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $16,667,000 after buying an additional 43,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $33.43 on Tuesday. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.11 and a one year high of $44.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $34.51 and its 200 day moving average is $34.49. The company has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.02. SLB had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The company had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. SLB's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. SLB's dividend payout ratio is 44.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLB. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of SLB from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of SLB from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of SLB in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $42.00 target price on shares of SLB and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 39,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $1,433,350.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 202,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,295,412.08. This represents a 16.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

SLB Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.

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