Hedge Funds Are Dumping Core Laboratories N.V. (CLB)

Is Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) a good investment?

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Thus, let’s analyze the newest info surrounding Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB).

Hedge fund activity in Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB)

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -21% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB), worth close to $33 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Astenbeck Capital Management, managed by Andrew Hall, which held a $16.3 million position; the fund has 9.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Due to the fact Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) has experienced declining interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, we can see that there was a specific group of fund managers that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q2. Interestingly, William von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital Management dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth an estimated $102.8 million in stock, and Jeffrey Vinik of Vinik Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $21.5 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds heading into Q2.

Insider trading activity in Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB)

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB). These stocks are Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:SPN), Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE:WFT), Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS), MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU), and Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps resemble CLB’s market cap.

Using the returns shown by our strategies, regular investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) is no exception.

Discover how hedge fund piggybacking can benefit you