Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Evercore ISI currently has $170.00 target price on the medical research company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair lowered Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of CRL stock traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $145.25. 547,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 970,592. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 968.33, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.50. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1 year low of $91.86 and a 1 year high of $254.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.91 and a 200 day moving average of $165.93.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $984.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.34 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. Analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, CEO James C. Foster acquired 6,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at $30,302,271.39. This trade represents a 3.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total transaction of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,252,112.50. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,136,938,000 after buying an additional 60,497 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 valued at $752,508,000 after buying an additional 335,658 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,808,002 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $330,231,000 after buying an additional 47,221 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $227,042,000 after buying an additional 14,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 7.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,108,358 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $166,830,000 after buying an additional 74,178 shares during 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).