Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded at UBS Group

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CRL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $300.00 target price on Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Argus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $250.00 price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.11.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of CRL stock opened at $295.91 on Wednesday. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12 month low of $146.20 and a 12 month high of $303.30. The stock has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of -61.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $275.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.10.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.25. Charles River Laboratories International had a positive return on equity of 15.75% and a negative net margin of 5.96%.The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Charles River Laboratories International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 11.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, CEO Birgit Girshick sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $1,819,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 36,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,080,038.70. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Shannon M. Parisotto sold 5,046 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.00, for a total transaction of $1,327,098.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,807 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,241. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,990 shares of company stock valued at $25,731,388. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi lifted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 175.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 773,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,397,000 after buying an additional 492,301 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at $96,765,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 14.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,652,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $285,001,000 after acquiring an additional 210,260 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the fourth quarter valued at $24,237,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 511,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $102,058,000 after acquiring an additional 95,619 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc is a contract research organization that provides products and services to support pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic research. The company helps customers discover, develop and manufacture new medicines, vaccines and other healthcare products.

Its offerings include research models and related services, preclinical drug discovery, pharmacology, toxicology, bioanalysis and safety assessment. Charles River also provides laboratory and manufacturing solutions for biologics, cell and gene therapies, microbial testing and other specialized life sciences applications.

Founded in 1947, Charles River Laboratories serves customers worldwide through operations across North America, Europe and Asia.