Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 285 Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,597 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $709,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 200,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,381,000 after purchasing an additional 5,375 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 1st quarter valued at $1,058,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2,733.4% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 247,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $67,060,000 after purchasing an additional 238,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 135,175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,411 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. CLSA lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.38.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL opened at $186.06 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $195.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.56. The company has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.48 and a 1-year high of $275.00.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.99 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.12, for a total value of $1,430,930.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,386 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,862.32. This represents a 34.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).