The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its SLB stake by 7.5% in the first quarter, selling 89,047 shares and retaining 1.10 million shares valued at approximately $56.6 million. Institutional investors still own nearly 82% of the company.
• SLB exceeded second-quarter expectations with $0.55 EPS and $8.97 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 5% year over year. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $61.35.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, equivalent to a 2.4% yield, but faces risks including Middle East disruptions, oil-price uncertainty, elevated debt and lower year-over-year EPS; Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “strong sell.”

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,101,826 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 89,047 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of SLB worth $56,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,574,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of SLB during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,528,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 128,660 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 447,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of SLB by 65.0% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 205,796 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 81,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

SLB News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting SLB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SLB beat second-quarter expectations, reporting $0.55 in earnings per share versus the $0.51 consensus estimate and $8.97 billion in revenue versus $8.67 billion expected. Revenue increased 5% year over year, supporting the view that international oilfield-services activity remains resilient. The results also increased attention on energy ETFs with significant SLB exposure, including IEZ, OIH and XLE. Here's How SLB's Q2 Earnings Impact Energy ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its SLB price target to $63, while Morgan Stanley said the stock is expected to rise. Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a $62 target, citing an international recovery, data-center expansion opportunities and potential for above-peer earnings and returns. These targets imply meaningful upside from recent trading levels. BMO Capital Markets Increases SLB Price Target to $63.00 SLB Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term valuation analysis described SLB as reasonably priced, with potential upside based on discounted cash-flow estimates. Offshore scale, digital services, production gains from ChampionX and data-center infrastructure initiatives are cited as growth drivers. SLB Stock Looks Reasonable Despite Its Five Year Run
• Neutral Sentiment: SLB has attracted unusually high investor and Zacks.com user interest following its earnings report, but the attention itself does not establish a clear change in fundamentals or valuation. SLB Is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded SLB from “hold” to “strong sell,” likely weighing on sentiment and helping explain why the stock has decreased despite the earnings beat and bullish broker targets. Zacks Downgrades SLB
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term risks include Middle East disruptions, uncertainty around oil prices, elevated net debt and the possibility that earnings growth will take longer to materialize. SLB’s $0.55 quarterly EPS also remained below the $0.74 reported in the prior-year period. SLB Growth Outlook Hinges on Offshore, Digital and Production Gains

SLB Stock Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $49.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.75 and a 200 day moving average of $50.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.05. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.64 and a 1-year high of $58.82.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.67 billion. SLB had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In related news, 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 transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction 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 $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLB from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.35.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.