Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Lowered to Neutral Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $170.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $190.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on CRL. Bank of America cut their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:CRL opened at $167.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,115.26, 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $166.11 and a 200 day moving average of $183.77. Charles River Laboratories International has a 52 week low of $150.79 and a 52 week high of $274.77.

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

Insider Transactions at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. This represents a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRL. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter worth about $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $95,086,000 after purchasing an additional 85,759 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $419,601,000 after purchasing an additional 41,421 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $966,000. 98.91% of the stock is 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).