Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BIO. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.67.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE BIO traded up $8.88 on Friday, hitting $304.40. 301,850 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 225,692. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $284.11 and a 200 day moving average of $308.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $261.59 and a twelve month high of $431.79. The company has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.38 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.25. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.59% and a negative net margin of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $610.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $619.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total transaction of $104,024.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,994.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 121 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $51,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

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.