Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $2.96 Million Stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,049 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $2,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% in the 3rd 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. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $419,601,000 after buying an additional 41,421 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 47,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 673,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $124,394,000 after acquiring an additional 38,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, CEO James C. Foster purchased 6,075 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $165.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. The trade was a 3.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. The trade was a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair cut Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRL opened at $155.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,037.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.73. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.79 and a twelve month high of $273.32.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its 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 net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The business 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 earnings per share. Charles River Laboratories International’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).