Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $BIO Stake Boosted by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 91.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,175 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories were worth $3,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 76.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BIO opened at $304.61 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.50. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $236.73 and a 52 week high of $343.12. The firm has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.18 and a beta of 1.08.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical research company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $592.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.91 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BIO. Weiss Ratings downgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $303.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

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.