Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $394.20.

BIO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $369.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 20.1% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 33,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,080,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,508 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 53.3% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 160,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,848,000 after buying an additional 55,813 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.3% in the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 34,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,546,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

BIO opened at $326.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $338.94 and a 200 day moving average of $325.12. The company has a current ratio of 6.14, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12 month low of $262.12 and a 12 month high of $387.99. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.93 and a beta of 0.90.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.