Brokerages Set Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Target Price at $395.20

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $395.20.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $360.00 to $345.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $481.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BIO opened at $256.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $244.00 and a 1 year high of $387.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $325.34.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.04. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $342,686,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 705.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 427,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $140,370,000 after acquiring an additional 374,269 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $83,681,000. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 560,524 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $184,138,000 after acquiring an additional 181,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $41,644,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.