Van Strum & Towne Inc. Sells 37,311 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Van Strum & Towne Inc. sharply reduced its SLB stake, selling 37,311 shares and cutting its holdings by 85.4% in the first quarter.
• SLB reported better-than-expected EPS of $0.52 for the quarter, though revenue came in slightly below estimates at $8.72 billion; analysts currently see moderate buy sentiment with a $60.30 consensus price target.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, equal to a 2.5% yield, while recent insider transactions included notable stock sales by a director and an executive vice president.

Van Strum & Towne Inc. cut its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 85.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,361 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 37,311 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 45,558 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in SLB by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 942,864 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $48,586,000 after acquiring an additional 835,454 shares during the last quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. acquired a new position in SLB in the 1st quarter worth about $316,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in SLB by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,901,998 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $817,246,000 after purchasing an additional 169,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in SLB by 14.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 23,489 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLB Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE SLB opened at $47.01 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $51.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.31. SLB Limited has a 12 month low of $31.64 and a 12 month high of $58.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SLB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on SLB from $56.10 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of SLB from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.30.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% 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. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade 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 insiders.

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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