SLB Limited $SLB Position Trimmed by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management cut its SLB stake by 20.9% in Q4, selling 257,698 shares and leaving it with 973,671 shares valued at about $37.4 million.
• SLB reported Q1 earnings of $0.52 per share, edging past estimates, while revenue rose 2.7% year over year to $8.72 billion and net margin was 9.26%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, equal to $1.18 annually and a 2.2% yield; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $60.67.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 973,671 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 257,698 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of SLB worth $37,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 378,531 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $14,528,000 after acquiring an additional 36,562 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,415,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 12,633 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its position in SLB by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 290,918 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,165,000 after buying an additional 96,993 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $54.79 on Monday. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.64 and a 1 year high of $58.82. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $54.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.70.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. SLB's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.295 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SLB. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLB has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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