Invesco Ltd. Purchases 74,178 Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: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. increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,108,358 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 74,178 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 2.26% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $166,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRL. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the first quarter worth $31,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 311.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $60,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,396.64. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRL. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays upped their price target 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $179.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $175.69.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of CRL traded up $0.86 on Friday, reaching $156.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,038,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,568. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.86 and a twelve month high of $230.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of -117.79, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.87 and a 200-day moving average of $148.86.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS 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).