Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Takes Position in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 592 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,319,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 499.1% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 368,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,228,000 after buying an additional 307,398 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 1,155,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $273,131,000 after buying an additional 271,743 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2,733.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 247,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $67,060,000 after acquiring an additional 238,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 5,003.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 215,639 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $50,977,000 after acquiring an additional 211,414 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on CRL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $265.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $228.00 to $203.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRL opened at $198.61 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $209.40 and a 200-day moving average of $225.43. The stock has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.58. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.65 and a fifty-two week high of $275.00.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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).