Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its holdings in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 252,324 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 84,510 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.54% of Core Laboratories worth $4,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,058,620 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $18,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Core Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 617,336 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $10,686,000 after acquiring an additional 16,503 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,621 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,679,000 after buying an additional 26,237 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $6,760,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 229,096 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,966,000 after buying an additional 6,827 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CLB. Citigroup upgraded Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Core Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.75.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLB traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $11.88. 83,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Core Laboratories Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.14 and a twelve month high of $25.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.03. The company has a market cap of $554.63 million, a PE ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99.

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

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

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.