Fred Alger Management LLC Has $2.12 Million Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Fred Alger Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 63.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,561 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 87,998 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SLB. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Schlumberger by 393.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 204.2% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its stake in Schlumberger by 90.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. This trade represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLB. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLB opened at $43.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36. Schlumberger Limited has a 1-year low of $38.66 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The firm has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.84% and a net margin of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

Schlumberger 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.