Ariel Investments LLC Purchases 314,572 Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. $CRL

Ariel Investments LLC increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 28.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,415,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 314,572 shares during the quarter. Charles River Laboratories International makes up 2.4% of Ariel Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ariel Investments LLC owned 2.88% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $214,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 93.5% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. WESCAP Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 3.8% in the second quarter. WESCAP Management Group Inc. now owns 2,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 16,829 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRL. William Blair raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $142.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Baird R W raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.86.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:CRL opened at $186.00 on Wednesday. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.86 and a fifty-two week high of $202.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a PE ratio of -119.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.46.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.43 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a negative net margin of 2.07% and a positive return on equity of 15.78%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).