Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank raised its stake in SLB Limited by 4.3% during Q4, buying an additional 33,197 shares to hold 801,817 shares worth about $30.77 million.
• SLB beat Q4 estimates, reporting $0.78 EPS vs. $0.74 expected and $9.75 billion revenue (up 5% YoY), and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.295 (annualized $1.18, ~2.2% yield).
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.27, alongside multiple recent price-target upgrades from major banks.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 801,817 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,197 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.05% of SLB worth $30,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in SLB by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SLB by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $528,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in SLB by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,359,990 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $527,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,859 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of SLB by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 14,198,874 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $491,139,000 after buying an additional 2,783,134 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $52.83 on Wednesday. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $54.80. The company's 50-day moving average is $50.01 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35. The company has a market capitalization of $79.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. SLB's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a positive change from SLB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. SLB's payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of SLB to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.27.

Insider Activity at SLB

In other SLB news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $2,982,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,987,919.40. This represents a 29.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company 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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