Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $170.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $190.00.

CRL has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair lowered Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL opened at $167.29 on Friday. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $150.79 and a 12-month high of $274.77. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,115.26, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.11 and its 200 day moving average is $183.77.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total transaction of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. The trade was a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter worth about $3,583,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 226.7% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 977,073 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $180,368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,805 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,565 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).