Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BIO. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $275.94 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $324.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.24. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 0.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $261.59 and a twelve month high of $473.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.00 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 23.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total transaction of $1,008,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 17.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,389,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,671,000 after purchasing an additional 46,119 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 955,732 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,582,000 after buying an additional 28,724 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.6% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 351,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $125,999,000 after acquiring an additional 71,570 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 348,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,518,000 after purchasing an additional 35,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 343,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $123,114,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc manufactures and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The company develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, systems, reagents, and consumables to separate, purify, characterize, and quantitate biological materials such as cells, proteins, and nucleic acids for proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety markets.