Marshall Wace LLP Reduces Stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL - Free Report) by 93.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,608 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 287,451 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $3,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,158,926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,136,938,000 after buying an additional 60,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.0% in the fourth 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 increased its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,808,002 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $330,231,000 after buying an additional 47,221 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,211 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $227,042,000 after buying an additional 14,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,034,180 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $190,910,000 after acquiring an additional 151,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRL has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair cut Charles River Laboratories International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $182.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,252,112.50. This trade represents a 18.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Foster acquired 6,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,302,271.39. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $118.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,499,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,942. The stock's 50 day moving average is $143.94 and its 200 day moving average is $169.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 789.87, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. 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 data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. Charles River Laboratories International's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Charles River Laboratories International

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).