Swiss National Bank Cuts Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $17,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,561,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.3% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $958,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 84,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,817,000 after buying an additional 27,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $260.16 on Wednesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.00 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.48 and a quick ratio of 4.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $326.91.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.20.

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.