SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its SLB stake by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 40,069 shares and leaving it with 541,768 shares valued at about $20.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors adjusted positions in SLB, and the stock remains heavily owned by institutions and hedge funds at 81.99%.
• SLB reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, slightly above estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, equal to a 2.1% annualized yield.

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 541,768 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 40,069 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in SLB were worth $20,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in SLB by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,141,868 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $126,303,000 after buying an additional 128,660 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in SLB during the third quarter worth approximately $3,334,000. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in SLB by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,367,063 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $52,468,000 after buying an additional 447,667 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in SLB by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,898,000 after buying an additional 81,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in SLB by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719,469 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $65,993,000 after buying an additional 42,212 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $56.03 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.64 and a 52 week high of $58.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $83.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $54.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.51.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.67.

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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