Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $8,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,136,938,000 after purchasing an additional 60,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,076,426 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $752,508,000 after purchasing an additional 335,658 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $227,042,000 after purchasing an additional 14,787 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,067,327 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $197,029,000 after purchasing an additional 169,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,034,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $190,910,000 after purchasing an additional 151,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRL shares. Cowen raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.54.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 0.8%

CRL stock opened at $158.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -243.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.49. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.86 and a 52-week high of $254.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.35.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.28. Charles River Laboratories International had a negative net margin of 0.66% and a positive return on equity of 15.19%. The firm had revenue of $984.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $942.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.41, for a total transaction of $72,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,385.33. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).