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

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $391.80.

BIO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $180,040,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $83,681,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,081,000 after purchasing an additional 193,700 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 2.2 %

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $313.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $340.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.91. 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 1-year low of $262.12 and a 1-year high of $387.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.46 and a beta of 0.93.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $649.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.93 earnings per share 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.