Swiss National Bank Acquires 700 Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 152,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $30,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRL. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 77.0% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1,153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 219.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 281 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 327 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL opened at $187.90 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.43. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.48 and a 12 month high of $275.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 1.38.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.99 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 10.44%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.19 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.12, for a total value of $1,430,930.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,676,862.32. The trade was a 34.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. CLSA cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.38.

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).