SLB Limited $SLB Shares Acquired by CI Investments Inc.

Key Points

• CI Investments Inc. massively increased its SLB stake in the first quarter, boosting holdings by 13,765% to 898,174 shares worth about $46.2 million.
• Several insiders sold shares, including Director Patrick De La Chevardiere and EVP Steve Matthew Gassen, while institutional investors still own about 81.99% of SLB.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $60.30 average price target, while SLB recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and paid a $0.295 per-share dividend.

CI Investments Inc. increased its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 13,765.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 898,174 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 891,696 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of SLB worth $46,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of SLB by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,628,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 76.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 24,373 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 10,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of SLB by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna cut their price target on SLB from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of SLB from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.30.

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $46.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $69.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.72. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.64 and a 52-week high of $58.82. The business's 50-day moving average price is $51.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. SLB's payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

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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