Guinness Asset Management LTD Sells 35,884 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Guinness Asset Management LTD lessened its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,982 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 35,884 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $9,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter valued at $91,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 20.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 14.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $598,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,684 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,957,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB traded up $2.49 during trading on Monday, hitting $43.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,717,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,770,376. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $40.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $61.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. Schlumberger's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a boost from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

Schlumberger 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.