Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Upgraded to “Moderate Buy” at Royal Bank Of Canada

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

Bio-Rad Laboratories stock opened at $247.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.21. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 52-week low of $211.43 and a 52-week high of $343.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $273.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80 and a beta of 1.06.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The firm had revenue of $592.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BIO. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,382,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,575,000 after buying an additional 32,874 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew 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 worth $9,105,000 after buying an additional 18,239 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in 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.