Aquatic Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 24,195 Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,195 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $4,466,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $95,086,000 after buying an additional 85,759 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $589,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 108,715 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $21,413,000 after buying an additional 5,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,808,002 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $330,231,000 after buying an additional 47,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CRL shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $182.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James C. Foster purchased 6,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. The trade was a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

NYSE CRL opened at $114.71 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $146.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 764.73, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.41. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.86 and a fifty-two week high of $254.15.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. Charles River Laboratories International's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Charles River Laboratories International

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing).

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