Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Shares Sold by Malaga Cove Capital LLC

Malaga Cove Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,901 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,955 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% in 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 buying an additional 66,161 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,908,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $394,359,000 after acquiring an additional 31,359 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 40.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,760,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $346,821,000 after acquiring an additional 509,163 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,513,138 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,985,000 after acquiring an additional 45,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of CRL opened at $214.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $166.87 and a 1-year high of $275.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.38.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.41. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 10.83%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRL. Bank of America lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Baird R W lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.00.

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).