SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its SLB position by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,800 shares and leaving it with 1,163,607 shares valued at about $44.7 million.
• Several major institutional investors continue to hold large stakes in SLB, and 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds. Vanguard, State Street, and others also increased their holdings recently.
• SLB reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, narrowly topping estimates, while revenue came in slightly below expectations. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, or $1.18 annualized, for a 2.0% yield.

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,163,607 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 20,800 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of SLB worth $44,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in SLB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,455,878 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,156,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,999 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SLB by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in SLB by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,718,458 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,063,834,000 after purchasing an additional 174,564 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in SLB by 25.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in SLB by 10.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,359,990 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $527,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,859 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

SLB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $58.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Limited has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week high of $58.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.80.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLB. Wall Street Zen cut SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on SLB from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.74.

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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