Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Cut to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $170.00 price target on the medical research company's stock, down from their prior price target of $190.00.

CRL has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $189.77.

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Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

NYSE:CRL traded down $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $165.56. 23,002 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 724,610. The company has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,106.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International has a one year low of $150.79 and a one year high of $273.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $165.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.49.

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

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,136,938,000 after acquiring an additional 60,497 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,076,426 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $752,508,000 after buying an additional 335,658 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $419,601,000 after acquiring an additional 41,421 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 47,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $227,042,000 after acquiring an additional 14,787 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

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).