Vestcor Inc Decreases Stock Holdings in SLB Limited $SLB

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 49.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,164 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 29,472 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in SLB were worth $1,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 23.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at about $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,696,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $602,444,000 after purchasing an additional 6,149,511 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLB by 7.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,898,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SLB in the fourth quarter valued at about $178,883,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SLB

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,056.49. This trade represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of SLB from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of SLB in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of SLB from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.67.

SLB Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $56.52 on Tuesday. SLB Limited has a one year low of $31.64 and a one year high of $58.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.70.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. SLB had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. SLB’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLB Limited will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio is 51.53%.

SLB Company Profile

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.