Brokerages Set Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Price Target at $391.80

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $391.80.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BIO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,960 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 941 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 26,050 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 310.0% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

BIO stock opened at $320.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of -11.72 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $340.48 and its 200-day moving average is $314.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $262.12 and a 1 year high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.