Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) Raised 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 increased their target price on Charles River Associates from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Charles River Associates Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRAI traded down $0.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $174.59. 61,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 58,825. Charles River Associates has a 52-week low of $133.54 and a 52-week high of $214.01. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.51 and a 200 day moving average of $182.65.

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $181.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.63 million. Charles River Associates had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 7.31%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Charles River Associates will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Associates Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Charles River Associates's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

Insider Transactions at Charles River Associates

In other news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,981,307.90. This trade represents a 5.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan D. Yellin sold 1,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.46, for a total value of $329,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,594,497.58. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

About Charles River Associates

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.