Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Shares Sold by Ariel Investments LLC

Ariel Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,632,570 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 412,686 shares during the quarter. Core Laboratories makes up approximately 1.8% of Ariel Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 20.52% of Core Laboratories worth $166,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CLB. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 173.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Core Laboratories by 2,688.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,426 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Core Laboratories by 843.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,284 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CLB shares. Citigroup raised shares of Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Core Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.75.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Core Laboratories stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.79. The company had a trading volume of 236,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,813. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.87. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.14 and a 12-month high of $25.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $552.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $123.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.09 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The firm's revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.78%.

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.