Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 430,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,537 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $22,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.4% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 11,968 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 32,845 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 10,864 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 4,142 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montgomery Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Schlumberger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,920 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Schlumberger Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SLB traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $49.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,484,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,204,305. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.36. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $42.73 and a twelve month high of $62.12. The company has a market cap of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Howard Guild sold 22,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.66, for a total transaction of $1,180,585.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,870.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.78, for a total transaction of $329,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 249,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,825.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Howard Guild sold 22,853 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.66, for a total value of $1,180,585.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,145,870.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,191 shares of company stock worth $8,636,322 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.