Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Short Interest Up 18.8% in December

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 655,500 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the December 15th total of 551,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 183,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $394.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock traded down $1.52 on Friday, reaching $342.95. The stock had a trading volume of 124,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,854. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.55 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $262.12 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a current ratio of 6.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.68.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 281.7% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 271 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.