Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 209,368 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 209,368 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $8,027,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co increased its stake in Schlumberger by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 6,422 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $384,000. Heritage Investors Management Corp raised its stake in Schlumberger by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 228,612 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $8,765,000 after acquiring an additional 42,154 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Schlumberger by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,156,820 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $121,032,000 after acquiring an additional 445,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,965,064 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $152,021,000 after acquiring an additional 205,256 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Griffin Securities cut shares of Schlumberger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SLB traded down $1.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.81. The stock had a trading volume of 18,376,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,291,622. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.80. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660 in the last three months. Company 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.