Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $247.53, but opened at $274.72. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $273.8710, with a volume of 133,498 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BIO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 11.8%

The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $273.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.31.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The firm had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,575,000 after acquiring an additional 32,874 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,105,000 after acquiring an additional 18,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.