Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $400.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $350.00.

BIO has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an equal weight rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $401.00 price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $368.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $343.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $328.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.28. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of -33.18 and a beta of 0.95. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $261.59 and a 1 year high of $366.30.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The business had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.