SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.

Key Points

• Capital Group cut its SLB stake by 32% in Q3, selling 22,132 shares and finishing the period with 47,105 shares valued at about $1.62 million.
• Other large institutions increased exposure — Vanguard boosted its holding 23.3% to 185,374,879 shares (~$6.37B) and Norges Bank opened a new ~ $618.7M position, with institutions owning 81.99% of SLB.
• Insider selling and company updates: insiders sold 156,902 shares (~$7.8M) in the last 90 days, while SLB beat quarterly EPS and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, yield ~2.5%).

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. decreased its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,105 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 22,132 shares during the period. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.'s holdings in SLB were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLB by 23.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after acquiring an additional 35,057,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth about $618,697,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in SLB by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $683,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719,852 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in SLB by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in SLB by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,788,978 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $229,466,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031,906 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,627.90. This represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $2,982,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. This trade represents a 29.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Price Performance

SLB opened at $47.24 on Tuesday. SLB Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $52.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 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 (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. SLB's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB's payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

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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