Short Interest in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Rises By 15.3%

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 867,500 shares, an increase of 15.3% from the May 31st total of 752,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 241,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.91, for a total value of $104,024.79. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,790 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 151,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,980,000 after buying an additional 41,937 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,590,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,054,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,609,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $273.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 4.89 and a current ratio of 6.57. The company has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of -26.36 and a beta of 0.95. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52 week low of $261.59 and a 52 week high of $431.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $310.49.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.25. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BIO. UBS Group reduced 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 note on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.67.

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.