Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Raised to Hold at CLSA

CLSA upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $205.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

CRL has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.93.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Up 2.4 %

Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $215.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $166.87 and a twelve month high of $275.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.27.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.99 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 10.44%. Charles River Laboratories International’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,760,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $346,821,000 after acquiring an additional 509,163 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2,733.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 247,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $67,060,000 after purchasing an additional 238,766 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 24.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 825,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,615,000 after purchasing an additional 163,056 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the second quarter worth $33,053,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,004,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $207,507,000 after buying an additional 110,725 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).