Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL – Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $383.60.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $409.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $465.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $390.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $390.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $445.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 17th.

In related news, CEO James C. Foster sold 17,436 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.67, for a total transaction of $5,033,250.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Foster sold 20,000 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $6,309,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,153 shares of company stock worth $11,832,257 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 182.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 856,214 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,139,000 after purchasing an additional 553,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $191,481,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 28.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,368,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $388,739,000 after purchasing an additional 301,159 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 454,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $171,358,000 after purchasing an additional 152,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,230,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,485,173,000 after buying an additional 150,007 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $235.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $269.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1-year low of $217.20 and a 1-year high of $460.21.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The medical research company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.04. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $913.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Charles River Laboratories International (Get Rating)

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc, a non-clinical contract research organization, 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).

Further Reading