Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

BIO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:BIO opened at $275.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 0.87. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $261.59 and a fifty-two week high of $473.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $324.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.57.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.00 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 23.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In related news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total transaction of $1,008,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $1,590,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $11,054,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 4,057 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 312,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,046,000 after acquiring an additional 18,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $668,000. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.