UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% during 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter worth about $42,776,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 426,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,781,000 after purchasing an additional 126,372 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in 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, M.D. Sass LLC grew its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 391,824 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $72,331,000 after buying an additional 70,652 shares in the last quarter. 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 $155.60 on Monday. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a one year low of $150.79 and a one year high of $273.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,037.35, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $3,252,112.50. This trade represents a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,198.54. This trade represents a 2.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRL. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.77.

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).