Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 145,623 Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 6,586.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 147,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 145,623 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $41,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 184 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 197 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BIO. Citigroup lowered Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

BIO stock opened at $298.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 2.37. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $236.73 and a 1 year high of $343.12. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.17 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $284.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.48.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.