Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 586,432 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 121,436 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.26% of Core Laboratories worth $10,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,124,863 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,008,000 after purchasing an additional 154,608 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $2,502,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 328,435 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,886,000 after purchasing an additional 93,354 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 436,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,479,000 after purchasing an additional 88,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $1,769,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CLB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.75.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CLB opened at $15.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $736.33 million, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.40. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.82 and a 12-month high of $27.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $129.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 15.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.