Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 643 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,993 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,209,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,808,476,000 after acquiring an additional 528,279 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,608,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,195,290,000 after purchasing an additional 239,966 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,067,254,000 after purchasing an additional 343,261 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $597,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,186 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Schlumberger by 12,289.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,043,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $500,082,000 after buying an additional 12,938,082 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SLB opened at $41.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.47. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $55.65. The company has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,160.34. This represents a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.69.

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.