Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,581 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,240 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $7,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 134,150,168 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,352,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,688 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 72.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,950,956 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,875,402,000 after purchasing an additional 37,333,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 14.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 85,986,039 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,712,897,000 after buying an additional 10,606,191 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $598,544,000 after buying an additional 1,560,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 35.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,640,827 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $635,883,000 after buying an additional 3,069,395 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SLB stock traded down $0.14 on Thursday, hitting $43.45. The stock had a trading volume of 9,995,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,284,212. The company's 50 day moving average price is $42.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.76. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $38.66 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company'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 owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.97.

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.