Short Interest in CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) Grows By 18.8%

CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 72,000 shares, a growth of 18.8% from the December 31st total of 60,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 35,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRA International

In other CRA International news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $1,436,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,060,433.60. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRA International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRAI. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRA International by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in CRA International by 41.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 78,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,699,000 after purchasing an additional 23,078 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CRA International by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in CRA International by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 8,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in CRA International by 102.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

CRA International Trading Down 2.0 %

CRA International stock traded down $3.70 on Friday, hitting $183.58. 30,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,731. CRA International has a 1 year low of $104.23 and a 1 year high of $210.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.89.

CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.19. CRA International had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 24.46%. The business had revenue of $167.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CRA International will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRAI. Barrington Research raised their price target on CRA International from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of CRA International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

About CRA International

CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues.