Ariel Investments LLC Buys 709,455 Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. $CLB

Key Points

• Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 7.4%, now owning over 10 million shares, which represents 1.8% of its total investment portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Millennium Management LLC and Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc., have also significantly increased their holdings in Core Laboratories recently.
• Analyst ratings for Core Laboratories have varied, with Citigroup lowering its price target from $16.00 to $13.00, while Zacks upgraded it from "strong sell" to "hold."

Ariel Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,342,025 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 709,455 shares during the period. Core Laboratories makes up 1.8% of Ariel Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 22.06% of Core Laboratories worth $155,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CLB. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Core Laboratories by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 847,983 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $14,678,000 after buying an additional 28,393 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Core Laboratories by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,594 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Core Laboratories by 843.7% in 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 buying an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Core Laboratories by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,938 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLB traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.60. 589,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,612. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.72 and a 52 week high of $21.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $590.58 million, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.46. The company's 50 day moving average price is $11.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.36.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $130.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Core Laboratories has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.180-0.220 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Core Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 6.45%.

Core Laboratories Profile

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.