The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company significantly increased its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) during the fourth quarter. According to the company’s latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the firm boosted its holdings by 12.1%. As of the latest SEC filing, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 1,362,401 shares of Schlumberger stock, valued at $52,234,000, representing 0.10% of the oil and gas company’s outstanding shares.
Other institutional investors also adjusted their positions in Schlumberger during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake by 7.4%, now owning 75,986,195 shares valued at $2,913,312,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake by 4.8%, holding 29,985,360 shares worth $1,146,195,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings by 1.2%, owning 27,836,555 shares valued at $1,067,254,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake worth $735,398,000, while Boston Partners grew its holdings by 9.9%, now owning 15,529,159 shares valued at $597,356,000.
Institutional investors currently hold 81.99% of Schlumberger’s stock. In other news, Schlumberger insiders sold a total of 57,647 shares valued at $2,390,279 during the last quarter. The company’s stock opened at $33.28 on Thursday, with a 50-day simple moving average of $38.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.20. Schlumberger’s market capitalization stands at $45.26 billion, with a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.11.
Schlumberger recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, payable on Thursday, July 10th, to investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th. The ex-dividend date is set for Wednesday, June 4th, representing an annualized dividend of $1.14 and a yield of 3.43%. The company’s dividend payout ratio stands at 38.64%.
Analysts have issued various ratings for Schlumberger. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock as ‘hold,’ fifteen have issued a ‘buy’ rating, and one has issued a ‘strong buy’ rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of ‘Moderate Buy’ with an average target price of $53.32.
