Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BIO opened at $298.45 on Monday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $236.73 and a 1 year high of $343.12. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.17 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $286.34 and a 200 day moving average of $287.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 2.37.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.08). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The business had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 29,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,012 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,958 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,744,000 after buying an additional 12,544 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4,534.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 399,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $120,956,000 after buying an additional 390,593 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $672,000. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $572,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.