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

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $327.40.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BIO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $355.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $409.00 to $392.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIO. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 712 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 265 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,488,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

BIO opened at $232.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $244.89 and a 200-day moving average of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.85 and a current ratio of 6.48. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 1-year low of $215.38 and a 1-year high of $387.99.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $585.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $573.01 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 71.86%. Bio-Rad Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

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.