Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 482,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,232 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $20,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Schlumberger by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 134,150,168 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,352,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,688 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Schlumberger by 72.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,950,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,875,402,000 after purchasing an additional 37,333,485 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Schlumberger by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 85,986,039 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,712,897,000 after buying an additional 10,606,191 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $598,544,000 after buying an additional 1,560,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,640,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $635,883,000 after buying an additional 3,069,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.97.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,937 shares in the company, valued at $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Schlumberger Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:SLB traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.66. The company had a trading volume of 304,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,240,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $38.66 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The company has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.76.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. Schlumberger’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

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.