South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 32,756 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 536,765 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,756 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $22,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger by 300.0% in the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 636 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the first quarter worth about $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 584.7% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 986 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. Susquehanna cut their target price on Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Schlumberger from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.56.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE SLB traded down $1.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 35,360,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,296,101. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $31.11 and a twelve month high of $50.52. The firm has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $34.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.53.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 5,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total value of $167,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,969.50. This trade represents a 17.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.