Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Stake Cut by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Charles River Laboratories International worth $26,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 3rd quarter worth about $601,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $95,086,000 after purchasing an additional 85,759 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,130,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $419,601,000 after purchasing an additional 41,421 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,060,000 after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRL. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles River Laboratories International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $184.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Birgit Girshick bought 1,514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.63 per share, with a total value of $249,249.82. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,064,198.54. This represents a 2.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Foster bought 6,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 183,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,302,271.39. This trade represents a 3.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

CRL opened at $175.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $167.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.79 and a 12-month high of $274.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,166.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.45.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 0.52%. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International 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).