Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 23,078 Shares of CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 78,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,078 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in CRA International were worth $13,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CRA International by 178.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 148,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,986,000 after purchasing an additional 95,050 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in CRA International during the third quarter valued at about $573,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in CRA International by 102.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRA International by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in CRA International by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 61,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,532,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $1,436,625.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,060,433.60. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CRA International Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of CRA International stock opened at $193.76 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.96. CRA International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.31 and a 12-month high of $208.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13.

CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $167.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.83 million. CRA International had a return on equity of 24.46% and a net margin of 6.41%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CRA International, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CRA International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from CRA International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. CRA International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRAI shares. StockNews.com cut shares of CRA International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barrington Research increased their target price on CRA International from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th.

CRA International Company Profile

CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues.