Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 577,752 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,173 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.23% of Core Laboratories worth $10,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in Core Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 2,688.5% in the fourth 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 grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 843.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,284 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $149,000. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of CLB stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.13. The stock had a trading volume of 285,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,632. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.14 and a 1-year high of $25.13. The firm has a market cap of $521.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $12.88 and its 200-day moving average is $16.36.

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

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CLB. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.00.

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.