VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $1.90 Million in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. $CRL

Key Points

• The Virginia Retirement Systems invested approximately $1.90 million in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., acquiring 12,500 shares during the second quarter.
• Goldman Sachs significantly increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories by 407%, now owning nearly 1 million shares valued at about $150 million.
• Analysts have raised their ratings for Charles River Laboratories, with Citigroup increasing its price target from $150 to $200 and several analysts recommending "buy" or "strong-buy" positions.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,500 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRL. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 407.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 997,488 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $150,142,000 after purchasing an additional 800,762 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,126 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $353,750,000 after purchasing an additional 516,521 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 304.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 627,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $94,484,000 after purchasing an additional 472,606 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 144.3% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 544,825 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $82,007,000 after purchasing an additional 321,789 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,285,012 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $644,980,000 after buying an additional 208,586 shares in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.60, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,800,681.60. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CRL shares. Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. William Blair raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $181.29.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL opened at $188.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.86 and a 1-year high of $230.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $162.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.94.

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

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).

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