Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,821 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after buying an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 151,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 41,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $1,824,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $2,609,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $358.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $337.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $307.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The stock has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1-year low of $261.59 and a 1-year high of $406.44.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The business had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total transaction of $104,024.79. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,994.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories 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.