Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Receives $182.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and fifteen have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $182.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRL shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James C. Foster purchased 6,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $165.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,435.75. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,752,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 1,721.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 570,097 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $85,811,000 after purchasing an additional 538,792 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter valued at $98,886,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,076,426 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $752,508,000 after purchasing an additional 335,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter worth $56,820,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRL traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $115.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,372,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 923,898. Charles River Laboratories International has a one year low of $91.86 and a one year high of $254.15. The business's 50-day moving average is $145.74 and its 200-day moving average is $170.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 767.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

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).