Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 16,783 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 122.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,495 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,783 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Schlumberger by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 33,970 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 7.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 221,136 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $9,277,000 after purchasing an additional 15,010 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 78,906 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,230,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.18. The company had a trading volume of 9,613,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,276,694. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.75. The company has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $38.66 and a 1 year high of $55.69. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.