Associated Banc Corp Lowers Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Associated Banc Corp cut its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,596 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,454 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 19,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of SLB opened at $41.10 on Friday. Schlumberger Limited has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Schlumberger news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,546,660. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Schlumberger 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.