Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Down 2.6% - Time to Sell?

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.16 and last traded at $17.18. 189,113 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 409,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $791.11 million, a PE ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 2.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $19.62 and its 200 day moving average is $19.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 5.83%. The business had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Core Laboratories's payout ratio is 6.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Core Laboratories by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 288.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,570 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 62,042 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,204 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $19,521,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 26.7% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,653,591 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $104,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 53.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,989 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 25,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.81% of the company's stock.

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.