Insider Selling: Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) EVP Sells $715,000.00 in Stock

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 approximately $3,252,112.50. This represents a 18.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $163.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 1,087.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.84 and a 200 day moving average of $188.00. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.79 and a 52 week high of $275.00.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the third quarter worth $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,086,000 after purchasing an additional 85,759 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $419,601,000 after purchasing an additional 41,421 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the third quarter worth $966,000. Institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRL. Barclays cut their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $205.00 to $166.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.71.

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).