ING Groep NV Sells 492,923 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 492,923 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $2,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SLB. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in Schlumberger by 3.4% during the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,558 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in Schlumberger by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 2,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Schlumberger from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.97.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $43.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.71. The company has a market cap of $60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $38.66 and a twelve month high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $9.16 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,880,160.30. This represents a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.