Evercore ISI Upgrades Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) to Outperform

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $170.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.44% from the stock’s current price.

CRL has been the topic of several other reports. 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair lowered Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL stock opened at $138.84 on Thursday. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $91.86 and a twelve month high of $254.15. 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 $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 925.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.40 and its 200-day moving average is $166.46.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $984.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $942.34 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Birgit Girshick acquired 1,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,064,198.54. The trade was a 2.83 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Foster bought 6,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $165.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,435.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at $30,302,271.39. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

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).