Guardian Investment Management Buys New Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Guardian Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 31,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLB. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $91,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,213,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,851 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 14.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $598,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,684 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter worth $42,957,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,322,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.03.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Schlumberger stock opened at $43.58 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.87. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Schlumberger Profile

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.