Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases New Shares in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 13,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 40.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 1.8 %

CRL opened at $164.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $171.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,099.39, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.37. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.79 and a fifty-two week high of $275.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRL shares. StockNews.com downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. CLSA downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.71.

Insider Transactions at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. This trade represents a 18.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $9,064,198.54. This trade represents a 2.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International 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).