Evercore ISI Upgrades Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) to Outperform

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $170.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on CRL. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CRL stock opened at $138.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $138.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.32. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $91.86 and a 12-month high of $254.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 925.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.28. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The business had revenue of $984.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $942.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, CEO James C. Foster acquired 6,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Birgit Girshick acquired 1,514 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the purchase, 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. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,136,938,000 after buying an additional 60,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,076,426 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $752,508,000 after purchasing an additional 335,658 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,808,002 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,231,000 after purchasing an additional 47,221 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $227,042,000 after purchasing an additional 14,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,067,327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $197,029,000 after buying an additional 169,640 shares during the last quarter. 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).