Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $11,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 4,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. American Trust increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,988 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% in the second quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In related news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $2,676,862.32. This trade represents a 34.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CRL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Baird R W cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.54.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 4.7 %

CRL opened at $187.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 1.38. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a one year low of $176.48 and a one year high of $275.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $195.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.19.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.99 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 10.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.19 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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).