Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Shares Purchased by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $1,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 135,927.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,740,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $736,819,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738,018 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 4th quarter valued at $98,886,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter worth $42,776,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 426,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $78,781,000 after purchasing an additional 126,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $95,086,000 after buying an additional 85,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRL shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.77.

Insider Activity at Charles River Laboratories International

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, COO Birgit Girshick purchased 1,514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.63 per share, for a total transaction of $249,249.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,198.54. This trade represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Foster acquired 6,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $165.01 per share, with a total value of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. The trade was a 3.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

CRL stock opened at $145.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.95 and a 200-day moving average of $181.92. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 972.11, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.66 and a 12-month high of $267.83.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.63 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. Charles River Laboratories International’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS 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).