Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 4,952 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 185,853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,952 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $7,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 660,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,322,000 after acquiring an additional 37,447 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 22,935 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 7,156 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the 4th quarter valued at $48,461,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth $884,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total transaction of $2,486,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $1,897,357.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 235,024 shares in the company, valued at $10,331,655.04. This represents a 15.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SLB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE SLB opened at $40.09 on Wednesday. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $55.69. 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 stock has a market cap of $54.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.83 and its 200 day moving average is $41.57.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Schlumberger Company Profile

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.