Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 190,737 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Soltis Investment Advisors dramatically increased its SLB stake in the fourth quarter, adding 190,737 shares to bring its total holdings to 200,497 shares valued at about $7.7 million.
• SLB shares were trading near $55.33, close to their 52-week high of $57.20, with the company carrying a market cap of $82.72 billion and a moderate debt profile.
• The company posted quarterly EPS of $0.52, slightly beating estimates, and declared a $0.295 quarterly dividend payable July 9, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $59.74 target.

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 1,954.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,497 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 190,737 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in SLB were worth $7,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. 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 valued at $7,156,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,999 shares during the period. 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 valued at $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. 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 valued at $1,063,834,000 after acquiring an additional 174,564 shares during the period. 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 valued at $528,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,094,764 shares during the period. 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 valued at $527,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,859 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLB Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $55.33 on Friday. SLB Limited has a 12-month low of $31.64 and a 12-month high of $57.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $51.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.72.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB's payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on SLB from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Argus raised SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 target price on SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $48.00 target price on SLB in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.74.

SLB 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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