Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded at Citigroup

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $200.00 target price on the medical research company's stock, up from their previous target price of $150.00. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 26.20% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CRL. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. TD Cowen raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $179.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Cowen raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Charles River Laboratories International from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $173.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of CRL opened at $158.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -243.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.49. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $91.86 and a twelve month high of $254.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $142.30 and a 200-day moving average of $152.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $984.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $942.34 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a positive return on equity of 15.19% and a negative net margin of 0.66%. The company's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 500 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.41, for a total value of $72,705.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,837,385.33. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 641 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,246 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $10,768,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter worth about $42,776,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,278 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,636,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).

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