Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Trims Stock Position in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,251 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,055 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.7% in the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,817 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Schlumberger by 3.8% during the third quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 0.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other news, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. This represents a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,258 shares of company stock worth $11,246,604 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLB opened at $43.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $61.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.52. Schlumberger Limited has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLB. Griffin Securities cut shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Schlumberger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Schlumberger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

About Schlumberger

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.