Short Interest in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Rises By 26.3%

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,930,000 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the February 13th total of 2,320,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock traded up $2.01 on Tuesday, reaching $177.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,011,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,526. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $150.79 and a 1 year high of $274.77. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,180.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $167.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.33.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

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 purchased at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. The trade was a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% in 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 during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,752,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,886,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,820,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,776,000. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. William Blair downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.36.

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).