Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $199.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $178.00. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on CRL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.50.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of CRL opened at $168.05 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -126.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.36. Charles River Laboratories International has a 52 week low of $91.86 and a 52 week high of $230.02.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.43 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a negative net margin of 1.69% and a positive return on equity of 15.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.60, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,800,681.60. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,285,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,980,000 after acquiring an additional 208,586 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 29.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,126 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $353,750,000 after acquiring an additional 516,521 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 8.0% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,950,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $293,555,000 after acquiring an additional 144,732 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 28.6% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,415,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $214,751,000 after acquiring an additional 314,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 11.6% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,143 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $187,712,000 after purchasing an additional 128,785 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).