Premier Fund Managers Ltd Invests $9.89 Million in SLB Limited $SLB

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 256,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,885,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Retirement Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in SLB in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SLB by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 76,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $231,000. Manske Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of SLB by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Manske Wealth Management now owns 15,442 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of SLB by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 617,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,705,000 after buying an additional 121,174 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Price Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $55.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $82.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.77. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $57.20.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 9.26%.SLB’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLB Limited will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

SLB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Freedom Capital lowered SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on SLB from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of SLB from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total value of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.