Barclays Begins Coverage on Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL)

Equities research analysts at Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $230.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.34% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CRL. StockNews.com lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday. TheStreet raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $260.00 to $228.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.50.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL stock opened at $206.58 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $220.16 and a 200 day moving average of $232.63. Charles River Laboratories International has a 52 week low of $161.65 and a 52 week high of $275.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The medical research company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.22. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.24 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph W. Laplume sold 1,304 shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.97, for a total value of $295,968.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,282,953.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 38,349 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,856 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 222.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 12,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 8,285 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

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).