SLB Limited $SLB Shares Acquired by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners increased its stake in SLB by 486.5% in Q3 to 929,227 shares (about 0.06% of the company), worth roughly $31.94 million.
• SLB raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (up from $0.29), an annualized $1.18 payout yielding about 2.6% with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 11 and payout on Apr. 2.
• SLB beat estimates with Q results of $0.78 EPS vs. $0.74 expected and $9.75B revenue (up 5% YoY), and several analysts raised price targets—consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $53.16 target.

Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 486.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 929,227 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 770,786 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of SLB worth $31,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in SLB in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Intrua Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of SLB by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,155 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of SLB by 95.8% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 333,587 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,275,000 after purchasing an additional 163,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

SLB Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $44.72 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $48.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.47. The firm has a market cap of $67.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $52.45.

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

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total transaction of $201,160.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,525 shares in the company, valued at $981,912.25. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares of the company's stock, 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 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of SLB from $52.30 to $56.10 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.16.

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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