Barclays Lowers Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Price Target to $210.00

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRL. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $265.00 to $225.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $191.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $232.79.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CRL traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $200.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,060,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,319. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.28. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.38. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $161.65 and a twelve month high of $275.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The medical research company reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $997.24 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.16%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.99 EPS for the current year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,467 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,638,290,000 after acquiring an additional 66,161 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,513,138 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,985,000 after purchasing an additional 45,079 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,251,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,559,000 after purchasing an additional 132,802 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 1,182,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $320,336,000 after purchasing an additional 26,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 893,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $242,165,000 after purchasing an additional 4,393 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).