Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 37,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,443,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLB. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Schlumberger by 1.5% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 64,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth approximately $680,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in Schlumberger by 88.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 45,375 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 21,347 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger during the third quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Schlumberger by 2.6% during the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

Schlumberger Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $41.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $55.87 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 moving average price of $41.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.41. 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.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gavin Rennick sold 26,990 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.92, for a total value of $1,104,430.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,657.28. This trade represents a 33.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 290,772 shares of company stock worth $12,546,660. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About Schlumberger

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.