Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Key Points

• Charles River Laboratories International was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating.
• Analysts from JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and Jefferies upgraded their target prices, with Barclays raising it from $165.00 to $195.00.
• The company's last quarterly earnings showed a profit of $3.12 per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a slight year-over-year revenue growth of 0.6%.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on CRL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $142.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.93.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $175.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.36. Charles River Laboratories International has a 52-week low of $91.86 and a 52-week high of $230.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -131.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $159.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.22.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $983.76 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a negative net margin of 1.69% and a positive return on equity of 15.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.60, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,800,681.60. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,231,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,118 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $952,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,500 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,698,000 after purchasing an additional 5,148 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

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).

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