Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 SEC. The fund owned 17,802 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring 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 reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,136,938,000 after purchasing an additional 60,497 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,076,426 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $752,508,000 after purchasing an additional 335,658 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,808,002 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $330,231,000 after purchasing an additional 47,221 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $227,042,000 after purchasing an additional 14,787 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,067,327 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $197,029,000 after purchasing an additional 169,640 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, CEO James C. Foster purchased 6,075 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.41, for a total transaction of $72,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,513 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,385.33. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,040 shares of company stock valued at $807,407. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Up 1.5%

Charles River Laboratories International stock traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $141.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,473,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 983,792. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $135.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.27. 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 quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 940.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.50.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $984.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $942.34 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The company's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. Analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised Charles River Laboratories International from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair cut Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.31.

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).