SLB Limited $SLB Shares Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management increased its SLB stake 9.1% in the third quarter, adding 22,214 shares to hold 267,096 shares valued at $13.32 million. Institutional investors collectively own 81.99% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 24 analysts rate SLB Buy, three Hold and one Sell, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $61.52 price target. Several brokerages recently adjusted their targets, while maintaining positive ratings.
• SLB beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.64 per share and $9.45 billion in revenue; sales rose 5.8% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, equivalent to a 2.3% yield.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,096 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,214 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $13,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in SLB in the second quarter worth approximately $1,339,567,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLB by 6,358.2% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,134,731 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $471,164,000 after acquiring an additional 9,977,804 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new position in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth about $185,474,000. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in SLB by 82.3% during the 2nd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 7,730,966 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $358,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489,344 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S increased its position in SLB by 2,928.3% during the 2nd quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 2,825,743 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $131,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,433 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. UBS Group cut their price target on SLB from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 26th. Capital One Financial lowered their price target on shares of SLB from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on SLB from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.52.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, insider Dianne Ralston sold 20,986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $1,124,220.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 205,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,984,689.21. This trade represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 10,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.65, for a total value of $539,021.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,134.25. The trade was a 43.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Down 1.3%

SLB stock opened at $51.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $52.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.45. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $34.65 and a 12 month high of $60.46. The company has a market capitalization of $75.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.80.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 8.40%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.2950 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. SLB's payout ratio is currently 57.28%.

SLB Profile

SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, is a global energy technology company that provides products, services and digital solutions to the oil and gas industry. Its offerings support the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbon resources across the life cycle of an oil or gas field.

The company provides reservoir characterization, drilling and well-construction services, well completion and production technologies, and equipment for subsea and surface operations. SLB also develops software, data and automation solutions designed to help energy companies improve operational efficiency, manage reservoirs and reduce emissions.

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