Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,481 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1,355.9% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 261,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,688,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total value of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,816,212.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,191 shares of company stock valued at $8,636,322 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SLB shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Schlumberger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.31.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $51.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.56. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $42.73 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $8.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.25%.

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.