Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 294,377 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,163 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 294,377 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $18,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 97.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,303,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $436,861,000 after acquiring an additional 644,530 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,773,000 after purchasing an additional 634,311 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 606,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $165,720,000 after purchasing an additional 91,882 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $135,081,000 after purchasing an additional 193,700 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BIO shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total value of $989,820.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 80.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

BIO stock opened at $336.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 4.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $340.63 and its 200-day moving average is $316.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of -12.30 and a beta of 0.93. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.12 and a 1 year high of $387.99.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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.