Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $358.50.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Barry sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total transaction of $214,326.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,151.80. This represents a 57.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 17.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 3,633.3% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 112 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 115.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 167 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $293.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.09 and a beta of 1.18. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $211.43 and a twelve month high of $368.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a current ratio of 5.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $311.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.59.

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

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.