Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $2,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,740,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $736,819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738,018 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,776,000. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 426,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $78,781,000 after acquiring an additional 126,372 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,086,000 after acquiring an additional 85,759 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,768,000. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL opened at $167.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 1,115.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $165.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.49. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.79 and a 12-month high of $273.57.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRL shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total transaction of $715,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,252,112.50. This represents a 18.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).