KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 19,500 Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 19,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,600,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRL. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in 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 worth $736,819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738,018 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth about $42,776,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 426,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,781,000 after buying an additional 126,372 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $95,086,000 after buying an additional 85,759 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,768,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRL opened at $158.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 1,055.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.79 and a fifty-two week high of $273.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,064,198.54. This trade represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James C. Foster purchased 6,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).