76,200 Shares in SLB Limited $SLB Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 76,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of SLB in the 4th quarter worth approximately $809,557,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of SLB by 64.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,149,511 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in SLB by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,635,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $638,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589,585 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in SLB by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,617,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,898,037,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,786 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in SLB by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,627,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $446,247,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Steve Matthew Gassen sold 53,379 shares of SLB stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $2,998,832.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,111.78. This trade represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director La Chevardiere Patrick De sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $108,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,056.49. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SLB shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on SLB from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of SLB from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of SLB from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of SLB in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.83.

SLB Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SLB opened at $46.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.37. SLB Limited has a twelve month low of $31.64 and a twelve month high of $58.82. The stock has a market cap of $70.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

SLB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.53%.

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.