Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded to Underperform Rating by CLSA

CLSA cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $164.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on CRL. UBS Group raised their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.38.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

CRL opened at $187.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $195.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.89. Charles River Laboratories International has a 52-week low of $176.48 and a 52-week high of $275.00.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.19 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Charles River Laboratories International

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,467 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,638,290,000 after acquiring an additional 66,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,740,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $736,819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738,018 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $419,601,000 after buying an additional 41,421 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,908,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $394,359,000 after buying an additional 31,359 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,760,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,821,000 after buying an additional 509,163 shares in the last quarter. 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).