Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $191.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $239.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $260.00 to $228.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Argus restated a hold rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $270.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a neutral rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $232.79.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International stock traded down $1.14 on Thursday, reaching $200.79. 1,060,174 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,319. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.38. Charles River Laboratories International has a 1-year low of $161.65 and a 1-year high of $275.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.26.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.81%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Trading of Charles River Laboratories International

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,075 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,912,000 after acquiring an additional 93,682 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 2nd quarter valued at $122,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 2nd quarter valued at $434,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 319,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $65,936,000 after buying an additional 11,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,822,000 after buying an additional 4,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

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).