Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Buys Shares of 260 Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 260 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 1,071.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 164 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 120.6% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. William Blair lowered Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.77.

Insider Activity

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

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL opened at $136.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.49 and its 200-day moving average is $180.95. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.99 and a 12-month high of $258.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 912.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 0.52% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).