Invesco Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. $CRL

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories by 7.2%, acquiring an additional 74,178 shares, bringing its total holdings to over 1.1 million shares valued at approximately $166.83 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Charles River Laboratories, with Citigroup upgrading its rating from "neutral" to "buy" and setting a target price of $200, indicating positive market sentiment.
• Charles River Laboratories reported a strong quarterly performance with an EPS of $3.12, exceeding expectations and contributing to a year-on-year revenue increase of .6%.

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,108,358 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,178 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 2.26% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $166,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter worth about $539,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter worth about $114,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 8,253 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter worth about $405,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $179.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $188.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $175.69.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL traded up $0.9950 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.9750. 66,375 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,273,289. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.86 and a 1 year high of $230.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.48. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $157.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.69.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $60,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,738,396.64. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).