HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases 3,342 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,342 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 20.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 136,291 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 23,005 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,619,000. Atom Investors LP increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 75.8% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 12,983 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 5,597 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 315.2% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 32,673 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 24,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 2.6% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 21,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

SLB stock opened at $42.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.50. 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 Limited has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $55.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.47.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly 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. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 2.71%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total transaction of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This represents a 15.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares in the company, valued at $496,808. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock valued at $13,609,283 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Griffin Securities lowered Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.69.

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.