ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 14,452 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 305,695 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,452 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLB were worth $10,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SLB. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of SLB by 3.2% during 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 buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its stake in SLB by 2.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC raised its position in SLB by 0.9% during the third quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in SLB by 31.6% during the third quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLB

In other SLB news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,092,801.50. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 13,268 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $659,419.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 22,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,627.90. This represents a 37.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 162,402 shares of company stock worth $7,993,676 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLB Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:SLB opened at $51.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.73 and a 200 day moving average of $38.03. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $51.99.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. SLB had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on SLB from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of SLB from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

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.