Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRL. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $241.00 to $230.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $270.83.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRL opened at $192.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $181.36 and a 1 year high of $308.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $233.82 and its 200 day moving average is $220.85.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, COO Birgit Girshick sold 3,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.39, for a total value of $815,319.95. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,439,656.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James C. Foster sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $5,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,148,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Birgit Girshick sold 3,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.39, for a total transaction of $815,319.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,439,656.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,763 shares of company stock worth $6,974,921. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,935,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,685,568,000 after purchasing an additional 66,602 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,031,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $399,729,000 after acquiring an additional 19,084 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $403,661,000 after acquiring an additional 266,004 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.4% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,632,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $321,229,000 after acquiring an additional 22,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 7.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,468,682 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $314,254,000 after acquiring an additional 99,739 shares in the last quarter. 97.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

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Charles River Laboratories International, Inc is an early-stage contract research company, which provides research models required in the research and development of new drugs, devices, and therapies. It operates through the following segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions.