Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 3,094,764 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 25.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,366,347 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,094,764 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in SLB were worth $528,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLB by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its position in SLB by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in SLB by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLB by 31.6% in the third quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of SLB by 21.7% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLB news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of SLB stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 224,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of SLB from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of SLB in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Loop Capital set a $48.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $54.00 target price on SLB and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

SLB Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:SLB opened at $47.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. SLB Limited has a 1-year low of $31.11 and a 1-year high of $52.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.36 and a 200 day moving average of $39.83. The firm has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. SLB’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB), historically known as Schlumberger, is a leading global provider of technology, integrated project management and information solutions for the energy industry. Founded by Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926, the company develops and supplies products and services used across the exploration, drilling, completion and production phases of oil and gas development. Its offerings are intended to help operators characterize reservoirs, drill and complete wells, optimize production and manage field operations throughout the asset lifecycle.

SLB’s product and service portfolio spans reservoir characterization and well testing, wireline and logging services, directional drilling and drilling tools, well construction and completion technologies, production systems, and subsea equipment.