Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) Stock Jumps 7.7% – Should You Buy?

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI)’s share price was up 7.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $196.80 and last traded at $197.4750. 68,702 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 154,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Charles River Associates from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles River Associates presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.00.

Charles River Associates Trading Up 9.6%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.70.

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.01. Charles River Associates had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 6.20%. The firm had revenue of $210.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.91 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Charles River Associates will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Associates Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. Charles River Associates’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles River Associates news, EVP Jonathan Yellin sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.25, for a total transaction of $389,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,932,257.25. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Associates

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles River Associates during the second quarter valued at about $91,500,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates in the second quarter worth about $19,965,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates in the second quarter worth about $11,066,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles River Associates by 86.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 105,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,052,000 after purchasing an additional 48,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Charles River Associates during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,959,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates, operating as CRA International, Inc, is a global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and management consulting services. The company advises corporations, law firms, government agencies, and other organizations on complex business, legal, regulatory, and strategic matters.

CRA’s services include economic and financial analysis for litigation and regulatory proceedings, antitrust and competition consulting, corporate strategy, business performance improvement, and investigations.