Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Baird R W cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an outperform rating to an inline rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $191.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $217.33.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

CRL opened at $192.97 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.58. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $161.65 and a 1 year high of $275.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 14.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 77.0% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 219.3% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 281 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 362.5% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 259 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1,072.7% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 258 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

About Charles River Laboratories International

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).