Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Boosts Stock Position in CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI - Free Report) by 41.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,136 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,078 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 1.15% of CRA International worth $13,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRA International by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its position in CRA International by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 8,535 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of CRA International by 102.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,348 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of CRA International in the third quarter valued at about $164,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CRA International by 178.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 148,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,986,000 after acquiring an additional 95,050 shares during the period. 84.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRAI. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of CRA International from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded CRA International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

CRA International Trading Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRAI traded up $10.17 on Monday, reaching $203.93. 79,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,224. The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.92 and a 200-day moving average of $177.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13. CRA International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.31 and a 1-year high of $208.38.

CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.19. CRA International had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 24.46%. The company had revenue of $167.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CRA International, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

CRA International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from CRA International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. CRA International's payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRA International

In other news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $1,436,625.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,712 shares in the company, valued at $29,060,433.60. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CRA International Company Profile

CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues.