Brokerages Set Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Price Target at $303.33

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $303.3333.

BIO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $301.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.63 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.47. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $236.73 and a one year high of $343.12.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $592.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.91 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIO. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 184 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.