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

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $358.50.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $265.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $317.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 3.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.07 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $313.38 and its 200 day moving average is $277.79. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $211.43 and a 1 year high of $373.69.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The medical research company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $653.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.30 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 4.19% and a negative net margin of 26.43%.Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total transaction of $214,326.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,151.80. This trade represents a 57.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,517,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $607,478,000 after acquiring an additional 951,123 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,062,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $298,019,000 after purchasing an additional 63,370 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.0% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 818,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $197,550,000 after purchasing an additional 93,964 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 609,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $170,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 459,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,948,000 after purchasing an additional 7,754 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.