Everence Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,936 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 54,990 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 98.9% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,498 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 8.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,487,067 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $188,232,000 after purchasing an additional 332,500 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter worth $3,491,000. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth $515,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $38.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,310,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,934,919. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $54.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.33. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger's payout ratio is 35.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank initiated coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.50 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.