Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 95.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,669 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $14,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 140.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This represents a 80.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the 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 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $320.31 on Friday. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.12 and a 12-month high of $387.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.72 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 4.52, a current ratio of 6.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $340.48 and a 200-day moving average of $314.07.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 30.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BIO. StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 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 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $446.00 to $469.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.80.

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.