Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) by 226.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,802 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,353 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $3,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,023 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,362 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $15,758,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,354 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 11,300 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.41, for a total value of $72,705.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,385.33. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CRL shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $171.85.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 1.6%

CRL traded down $2.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $135.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 804,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 995,441. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 903.40, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.50. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $129.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.75. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.86 and a twelve month high of $254.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $984.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $942.34 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The firm's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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).