Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires New Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 851 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,421,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $837,467,000 after buying an additional 31,445 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $180,040,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 32,296.9% during 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 buying an additional 634,311 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 514,906 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $178,091,000 after buying an additional 121,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 494,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $135,081,000 after buying an additional 193,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $337.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 4.63. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a one year low of $261.59 and a one year high of $366.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.54 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $327.76 and a 200 day moving average of $307.32.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The company had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value 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 $48,582.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, 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 value of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.