Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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 raised their price objective on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.80.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BIO opened at $368.92 on Friday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $262.12 and a fifty-two week high of $372.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $333.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.14. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of -13.50 and a beta of 0.93.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $649.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $731,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 7.7% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 836 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 2,052.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 104,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,226,000 after acquiring an additional 99,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 17.2% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company 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.