QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 13,358 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,940 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,358 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Schlumberger by 11.5% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,311 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,035 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 8.7% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 10,594 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 49.3% during the third quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 103,031 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,322,000 after purchasing an additional 34,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Schlumberger by 19.2% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,205 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. This trade represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.81. The company had a trading volume of 18,376,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,291,622. The firm has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.51. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $40.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.80. Schlumberger Limited has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities lowered shares of Schlumberger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.81.

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.