Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral” Rating

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $175.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $155.00. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CRL. CLSA downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.36.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $163.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.58. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 1,090.80, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.37. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $150.79 and a 1 year 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Birgit Girshick acquired 1,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,198.54. The trade was a 2.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Foster bought 6,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $3,583,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 226.7% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 977,073 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $180,368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,805 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,565 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company 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).