Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,685 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 40.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,760,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,821,000 after buying an additional 509,163 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 2,733.4% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 247,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $67,060,000 after acquiring an additional 238,766 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 825,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,615,000 after acquiring an additional 163,056 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,053,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 12.4% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,004,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $207,507,000 after purchasing an additional 110,725 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRL shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $225.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Wednesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

NYSE:CRL opened at $182.67 on Friday. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.65 and a twelve month high of $275.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.36. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $196.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.16.

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

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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).