Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $1,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BIO. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% during 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. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BIO shares. Citigroup upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,494,016.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $346.37 on Friday. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $261.59 and a 52 week high of $364.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $330.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.14. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 51.73% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Rad Laboratories 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.