Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 225.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,033,530 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 716,435 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Schlumberger worth $39,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,986,195 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,913,312,000 after purchasing an additional 5,225,828 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,146,195,000 after buying an additional 1,377,134 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,737,703 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,101,804,000 after buying an additional 3,119,543 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.2% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 343,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $735,398,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.32.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.6 %

Schlumberger stock opened at $34.51 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $31.11 and a 12 month high of $50.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.74. The company has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.06.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $8.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is 38.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total transaction of $1,104,430.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,657.28. The trade was a 33.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $1,062,623.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,311,990.68. This trade represents a 44.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.