Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 45,739 Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,823 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,739 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Core Laboratories worth $3,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Core Laboratories by 173.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position 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 during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Core Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $149,000. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 11,219 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CLB. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Core Laboratories from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup upgraded Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.75.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Core Laboratories stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 593,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,735. The company has a market cap of $571.17 million, a PE ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.37. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.14 and a 12-month high of $25.13.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. Analysts expect that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.06%.

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.