Barron's short piece on recent CLB insider trades
Inside Scoop | FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2011
Core Laboratories CEO's $21.9 Million Sale
By GRACE L. WILLIAMS
A recent all-time high stock price and record quarterly revenue at Core Laboratories saw insiders cashing out shares in droves this past week for a total of more than $30 million.
From July 25 through 27, Chief Executive David M. Demshur sold 200,000 shares of Core Laboratories (ticker: CLB) for $21,852,504, an average of $109.26 each.
This is his first transaction of the year at the energy-services company. On July 30, 2010, he sold 100,000 shares for $7.6 million, an average of $76.07 each.
Following this transaction, Demshur directly holds 181,962 shares and indirectly holds 68,530 shares through a 401k plan. His direct holdings represent less than 1% of the company's outstanding shares.
Demshur joined the company in 1979 and has been an officer since 1989.
Demshur writes in an email to Barrons.com, "The Executive Team here at Core Laboratories has owned shares of the company since our leverage buyout back in 1994. Management still owns one of the largest share positions in our company when compared to all other oil field-service companies. I sold 200,000 shares for estate and tax planning reasons. I still own approximately 250,000 shares."
Additional insiders have also notably taken profits during the same time period. On July 25, vice president of counsel and secretary Mark F. Elvig sold 2,200 shares for $242,900, chief accounting officer Miller Charles Brigham sold 10,000 shares for $1.1 million, Chief Operating Officer Monty L. Davis sold 9,400 shares for $1 million, Chief Financial Officer Richard L. Bergmark sold 50,000 shares for $5.6 million and director Rene R. Joyce sold 24,000 shares for $2.3 million.
Jonathan Moreland, president of InsiderInsights.com says, "I was surprised to see such heavy selling because I've seen good buying signals from other companies in the industry and fundamentally I'm bullish on energy. This makes the [Core Laboratories] selling really stand out as a negative. I can't get too negative on the firm, given my general bullishness on the industry."
On July 7, Core Laboratories reached an all-time high of $118.50, adjusted for splits and dividends. Shares have retracted since then and closed $108.68 on Friday.
After reporting record second-quarter revenue on July 21 that beat estimates, analysts were mixed on the company.
RBC Capital analyst Victor Marchon downgraded the company from Outperform to Sector Perform following the earnings report.
"We believe risk/reward is more neutral given recent share-price gains and limited prospects for material upward earnings revisions in the near term," Marchon wrote, adding, "[W]e will keep the shares on our radar screen and await a more attractive point."
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