Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 94.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,673 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 107,303 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 23,742 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 39,903 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 10,359 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,772,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Schlumberger by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 306,183 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,739,000 after buying an additional 16,914 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut Schlumberger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.03.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,702,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,908,028. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.92. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. This is a boost from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger's payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

About Schlumberger

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.