Aviva PLC Sells 149,933 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Aviva PLC lowered its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 856,853 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 149,933 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of Schlumberger worth $32,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,146,195,000 after buying an additional 1,377,134 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after purchasing an additional 343,261 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $735,398,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $597,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $590,320,000 after buying an additional 1,700,203 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Schlumberger from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.14. 8,640,467 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,928,645. The company has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $54.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $40.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.09.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is 36.66%.

Schlumberger Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.