Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 74.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,360 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,767 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $1,590,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $11,054,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 5.2% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 4,057 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6.3% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 312,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,046,000 after purchasing an additional 18,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total value of $1,008,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BIO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $275.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 0.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52-week low of $261.59 and a 52-week high of $473.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $324.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $317.24. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.17. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 23.86%. The company had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.41 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.