Insider Selling: Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) COO Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 1.5 %

BIO opened at $319.20 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.64. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $261.59 and a 52 week high of $384.37. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of -30.81 and a beta of 0.95.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BIO. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $358.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 41,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,824,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,609,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,340,000. 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.