LVW Advisors LLC Takes Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

LVW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,709 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,324 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 226,209 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,399,000 after acquiring an additional 9,141 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,537 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC raised its position in shares of Schlumberger by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,930 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $47.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.61. Schlumberger Limited has a twelve month low of $42.61 and a twelve month high of $62.12.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is currently 36.54%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Schlumberger news, CTO Demosthenis Pafitis sold 63,095 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total value of $3,044,964.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 33,421 shares in the company, valued at $1,612,897.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 4,980 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.43, for a total value of $216,281.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,956.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,158 shares of company stock valued at $5,099,893 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLB. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Schlumberger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $77.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.59.

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.