Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,702,327 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 784,740 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Schlumberger worth $141,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional grew its stake in Schlumberger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Schlumberger by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,383 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Schlumberger by 0.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,715 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SLB shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

NYSE:SLB traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.73. The stock had a trading volume of 13,669,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,156,785. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Schlumberger's payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.