Vestcor Inc Buys 29,472 Shares of SLB Limited $SLB

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,472 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in SLB were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in SLB by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 18,047 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 7,394 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLB by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 16,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,730,735.60. This trade represents a 28.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 4,000 shares of SLB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.29, for a total transaction of $201,160.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,912.25. This represents a 17.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 156,902 shares of company stock worth $7,796,666. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on SLB from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Freedom Capital cut SLB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 target price on SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

SLB Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of SLB opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.31. SLB Limited has a 52 week low of $31.11 and a 52 week high of $52.45.

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

SLB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

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.