Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 27,166 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management raised its stake in SLB by 0.8% in Q3, buying 27,166 shares to hold 3,433,041 shares (~0.23% of the company) valued at about $118 million.
• Analysts are largely positive on SLB with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.96, and several firms (including RBC and JPMorgan) recently raised targets or upgraded the stock.
• Insiders sold a notable 156,902 shares worth roughly $7.8 million over the last quarter—including sales by Dianne B. Ralston and CAO Howard Guild—while corporate insiders now own just 0.22% of SLB.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,433,041 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,166 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.23% of SLB worth $117,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Manske Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of SLB in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $416,000. CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in SLB by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 11,119 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in SLB in the third quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in SLB by 20.4% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,287 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 19,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballast Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 81,072 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,786,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLB. Freedom Capital lowered shares of SLB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised SLB from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on SLB from $47.60 to $52.30 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLB news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $659,419.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,113,627.90. This trade represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

SLB Stock Performance

SLB opened at $47.90 on Thursday. SLB Limited has a 52-week low of $31.11 and a 52-week high of $52.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $47.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.83.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. SLB's dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

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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