Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. $CRL Stake Boosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 407%, owning nearly 1 million shares worth approximately $150.14 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Other institutional investors also ramped up their holdings in Charles River, with notable increases including Rothschild Investment LLC's 480% lift during the first quarter.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for Charles River Laboratories, with target prices rising to as high as $200, reflecting a strong consensus on the stock despite its current PE ratio of -120.06.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) by 407.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 997,488 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 800,762 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 2.03% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $150,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 480.0% during the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 174 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 178 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 83.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 474 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 44.6% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 590 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $188.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.07.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of CRL traded up $3.79 on Wednesday, hitting $155.39. 76,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,166. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.86 and a 1 year high of $230.02. The stock's 50 day moving average is $160.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -116.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International 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).