Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded by Bank of America to Neutral

Bank of America cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $215.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $250.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CRL. Barclays reduced their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Charles River Laboratories International from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised Charles River Laboratories International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Baird R W cut Charles River Laboratories International from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $220.25.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

CRL opened at $192.90 on Wednesday. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $161.65 and a 12-month high of $275.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.09. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.36.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.41. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 10.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 200,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,381,000 after buying an additional 5,375 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 56,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,401,000 after buying an additional 2,739 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,301,000. Natixis purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 100,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,729,000 after buying an additional 18,849 shares in 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).