Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Cut to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $170.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $190.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CRL. William Blair downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 1.2 %

Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $167.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12 month low of $150.79 and a 12 month high of $273.57. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,115.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. Charles River Laboratories International’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1,071.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 311.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

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).