Ariel Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 60.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,187 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 39,095 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $28,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BIO shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set 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 started coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, August 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $358.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of BIO opened at $315.55 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.35. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $261.59 and a 1 year high of $366.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The firm has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.46 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.