Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 332,500 Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,487,067 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 332,500 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Schlumberger were worth $188,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 134,150,168 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,352,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,688 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Schlumberger by 72.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 37,333,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 14.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 10,606,191 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 14.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,686,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $598,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Schlumberger by 35.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,640,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $635,883,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069,395 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLB has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Schlumberger from $53.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Schlumberger

In other news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $2,514,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Schlumberger Stock Down 1.2 %

SLB opened at $43.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $61.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.96. Schlumberger Limited has a 52 week low of $38.66 and a 52 week high of $55.69.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued 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. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The company had revenue of $9.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 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.