Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday.

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of Charles River Associates from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Charles River Associates Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:CRAI traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $179.39. The stock had a trading volume of 53,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,937. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.44. Charles River Associates has a 52 week low of $133.54 and a 52 week high of $214.01.

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.29. Charles River Associates had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The business had revenue of $181.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.63 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Associates will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Associates Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Charles River Associates's payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles River Associates news, EVP Jonathan D. Yellin sold 1,750 shares of Charles River Associates stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.46, for a total value of $329,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,594,497.58. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.62, for a total transaction of $1,429,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 141,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,981,307.90. The trade was a 5.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Associates

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Charles River Associates during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Associates in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates during the 1st quarter worth about $329,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates during the 1st quarter worth about $360,000. 84.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles River Associates Company Profile

CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues.