Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,140,816 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 733,089 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $43,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Schlumberger during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 468.9% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,799.89. The trade was a 15.20 % 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 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $57.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.42. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69.

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

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

About Schlumberger

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.