Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $128.03 and last traded at $130.10, with a volume of 124148 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $136.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair cut Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.77.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 888.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.59.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $715,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $3,252,112.50. This trade represents a 18.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Laboratories International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRL. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the third quarter valued at approximately $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,086,000 after acquiring an additional 85,759 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $419,601,000 after acquiring an additional 41,421 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Charles River Laboratories International during the third quarter worth about $966,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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).