Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $368.20.

BIO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bio-Rad Laboratories news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total transaction of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,582.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,494,016.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 193.8% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

BIO opened at $337.89 on Wednesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $261.59 and a one year high of $366.30. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.61 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $327.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 6.28.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.99. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a negative net margin of 51.73% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $638.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.