Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 898,986 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,845 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.06% of Schlumberger worth $34,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,808,476,000 after purchasing an additional 528,279 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,195,290,000 after buying an additional 239,966 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after buying an additional 343,261 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth about $735,398,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Schlumberger by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $597,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,186 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. This trade represents a 40.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Schlumberger Trading Down 11.3 %

Shares of Schlumberger stock traded down $4.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.77. 49,170,861 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,487,331. The company has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.02 and a 200-day moving average of $41.45. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $34.04 and a 12 month high of $55.65. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger's payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Schlumberger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.79.

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.