Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Rating Lowered to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was downgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $170.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $190.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRL. Bank of America dropped their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, January 17th. William Blair cut Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $167.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 1,115.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $166.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.71. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12 month low of $150.79 and a 12 month high of $273.57.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.16. The firm 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 company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total transaction of $715,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $3,252,112.50. The trade was a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1,071.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 311.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

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).