SLB Limited $SLB Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its SLB stake by 4.1% in the first quarter, selling 166,255 shares and ending with 3.89 million shares valued at about $199.8 million.
• Insiders also sold shares: EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares, while Director Patrick De La Chevardiere sold 2,000 shares, cutting their holdings by 52.96% and 10.55%, respectively.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain mostly bullish on SLB, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.74; the company also recently paid a $0.295 quarterly dividend yielding about 2.5%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,887,548 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 166,255 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.26% of SLB worth $199,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in SLB by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In other SLB news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SLB. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on SLB from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of SLB from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.74.

SLB Trading Down 0.3%

SLB opened at $47.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $52.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.91. The company has a market cap of $70.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

About SLB

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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