Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Stock Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 691 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $837,467,000 after acquiring an additional 31,445 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 348,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,518,000 after buying an additional 35,890 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 237,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $76,780,000 after buying an additional 16,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $73,142,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 214,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $69,174,000 after buying an additional 10,040 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on BIO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $420.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total transaction of $104,024.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,994.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock traded up $2.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $321.45. The stock had a trading volume of 67,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,276. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.96. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a twelve month low of $261.59 and a twelve month high of $419.00. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $610.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $619.09 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 12.37% and a positive return on equity of 3.59%. The company’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.8 earnings per share 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.