Zions Bancorporation N.A. Increases Stock Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 17.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,527 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 10.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the first quarter worth $473,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the first quarter worth $41,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the first quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 31.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 37,074 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,045,000 after acquiring an additional 8,959 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.12, for a total value of $1,430,930.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,386 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,862.32. This trade represents a 34.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE CRL opened at $196.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.48. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a one year low of $176.48 and a one year high of $275.00. The firm has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.38.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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).