Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.36.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Remove Ads

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE CRL traded up $5.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 429,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,510. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,165.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $169.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.19. Charles River Laboratories International has a one year low of $150.79 and a one year high of $275.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $3,252,112.50. The trade was a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $3,583,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 226.7% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,802 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 977,073 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $180,368,000 after buying an additional 5,805 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,565 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).