Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $358.20.

BIO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $327.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 4.63. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $261.59 and a fifty-two week high of $366.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $324.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.65 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $837,467,000 after purchasing an additional 31,445 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $180,040,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after acquiring an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,773,000 after acquiring an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $165,720,000 after acquiring an additional 91,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.