Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 54,922 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $11,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the third quarter valued at about $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $95,086,000 after purchasing an additional 85,759 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $419,601,000 after purchasing an additional 41,421 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,060,000 after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. The trade was a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Foster bought 6,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 183,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,302,271.39. This trade represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. CLSA cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.36.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

NYSE:CRL opened at $171.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 1,141.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.79 and a 1-year high of $274.77.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International 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).