JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Price Target to $165.00

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $175.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRL. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.71.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRL opened at $163.11 on Thursday. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $150.79 and a 1 year high of $275.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,087.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.09.

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

Insider Transactions at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. This trade represents a 18.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick acquired 1,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,198.54. This trade represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,086,000 after purchasing an additional 85,759 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the third quarter valued at about $966,000. 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).