Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $343.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE BIO opened at $361.57 on Tuesday. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1 year low of $236.73 and a 1 year high of $362.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.83 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.47.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $651.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.99 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.54% and a net margin of 8.59%.Bio-Rad Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 184 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

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.