Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the December 15th total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 667,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles River Laboratories International news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.12, for a total transaction of $1,430,930.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,386 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,862.32. This trade represents a 34.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRL. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. American Trust increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,988 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 190 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. CLSA lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.00.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 1.2 %

CRL stock traded down $2.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $163.77. 1,146,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 480,849. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $190.64 and its 200 day moving average is $198.40. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $160.85 and a twelve month high of $275.00.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $975.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.72 earnings per share. Charles River Laboratories International’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International Company 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).