Westerkirk Capital Inc. Boosts Stake in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Westerkirk Capital nearly doubled its SLB position in the fourth quarter, buying 89,896 additional shares and lifting its stake to 186,596 shares worth about $7.16 million.
• SLB reported mixed quarterly results: earnings of $0.52 per share slightly topped estimates, while revenue of $8.72 billion came in just below expectations; revenue was still up 2.7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.1%, while analysts currently hold a Moderate Buy consensus with a $60.67 price target.

Westerkirk Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 93.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 186,596 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 89,896 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.'s holdings in SLB were worth $7,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $7,156,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,999 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 worth $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SLB by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,840,883 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,292,993,000 after acquiring an additional 510,747 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,063,834,000 after acquiring an additional 174,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter worth approximately $809,557,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLB Trading Up 3.0%

SLB opened at $56.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.03. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. SLB's payout ratio is presently 51.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on SLB from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut SLB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $108,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,111.78. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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