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

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $368.20.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BIO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of BIO stock opened at $320.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.32. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52-week low of $261.59 and a 52-week high of $364.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of -30.91 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.28.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $205,895.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.7% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 836 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,986 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is currently 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.