Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 639,071 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,639 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Core Laboratories were worth $10,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 1,178.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CLB. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.75.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

Core Laboratories stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.38. 274,164 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,051. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $955.82 million, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.41. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.82 and a 1-year high of $27.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.94.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $129.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 8.18%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.55%.

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.