Wall Street Zen Upgrades Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) to Buy

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

BIO has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $265.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $358.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $323.45 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a PE ratio of -13.31 and a beta of 1.18. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a 12-month low of $211.43 and a 12-month high of $373.69. The company has a current ratio of 5.44, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The medical research company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.04). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 4.19% and a negative net margin of 26.43%.The business had revenue of $653.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total value of $214,326.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 510 shares in the company, valued at $156,151.80. This trade represents a 57.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 17.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,517,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $607,478,000 after acquiring an additional 951,123 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 6.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,062,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $298,019,000 after purchasing an additional 63,370 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 13.0% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 818,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $197,550,000 after purchasing an additional 93,964 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 0.6% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 609,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $170,837,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 459,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,948,000 after acquiring an additional 7,754 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.