Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.84 Million Stock Holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm 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.’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $14,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $180,040,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 636,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,773,000 after acquiring an additional 634,311 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $83,681,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $135,081,000 after purchasing an additional 193,700 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 649,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $177,391,000 after purchasing an additional 134,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BIO stock opened at $330.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.11 and a beta of 0.90. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.12 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The company has a current ratio of 6.14, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.85. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.74% and a negative net margin of 30.18%. The company had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BIO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $369.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $394.20.

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.