Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO – Get Rating) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,195,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,795,000 after purchasing an additional 63,267 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,913,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,031,000 after purchasing an additional 103,940 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,886,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,481,000 after purchasing an additional 28,451 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Meridian Bioscience during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,348,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Meridian Bioscience by 129.1% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 455,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,296,000 after acquiring an additional 256,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.72% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NASDAQ VIVO opened at $29.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 3.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10 and a beta of 0.34. Meridian Bioscience, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.04 and a 1 year high of $29.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.37.

Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 6th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $111.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.55 million. Meridian Bioscience had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 18.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meridian Bioscience, Inc. will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

VIVO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meridian Bioscience from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Meridian Bioscience in a research report on Friday, May 27th.

Meridian Bioscience Profile (Get Rating)

Meridian Bioscience, Inc, a life science company, develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells diagnostic test kits primarily for gastrointestinal and respiratory infectious diseases, and elevated blood lead levels worldwide. The company operates through Diagnostics and Life Science segments. The Diagnostics segment offers testing platforms, including real-time PCR amplification under the Revogene brand; isothermal DNA amplification under the Alethia brand; lateral flow immunoassay using fluorescent chemistry under the Curian brand; rapid immunoassay under the ImmunoCard and ImmunoCard STAT! brands; enzyme-linked immunoassays under the PREMIER brand; anodic stripping voltammetry under the LeadCare brands; and urea breath testing for H.

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