Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Holdings in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Free Report) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,075 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 60,949 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.46% of Core Laboratories worth $3,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,058,620 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $18,329,000 after buying an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Core Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $464,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,910,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 161.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 108,028 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 66,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 49,623 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.75.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of CLB opened at $12.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.33. The stock has a market cap of $582.37 million, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.14 and a 1-year high of $25.13. 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 (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.06%.

Core Laboratories Company 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.

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