Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $117.99 Million Position in SLB Limited $SLB

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,433,041 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 27,166 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in SLB were worth $117,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SLB by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 185,374,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,371,335,000 after purchasing an additional 35,057,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SLB during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $618,697,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in SLB by 30.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,233,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $683,901,000 after buying an additional 4,719,852 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SLB by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,788,978 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $229,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,031,906 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of SLB by 346.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,876,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $133,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,007,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

SLB Price Performance

NYSE SLB opened at $47.90 on Thursday. SLB Limited has a fifty-two week low of $31.11 and a fifty-two week high of $52.45. The company has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.36 and its 200 day moving average is $39.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

SLB (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. SLB had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SLB Limited will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This is an increase from SLB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SLB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at SLB

In other SLB news, insider Dianne B. Ralston sold 18,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $921,541.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 224,097 shares in the company, valued at $11,092,801.50. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 61,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $3,032,544.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 155,548 shares in the company, valued at $7,730,735.60. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 156,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,666. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SLB. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of SLB from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Loop Capital set a $48.00 target price on SLB in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on SLB in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

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.