Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Share Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) shares crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $373.71 and traded as high as $384.62. Bio-Rad Laboratories shares last traded at $381.9980, with a volume of 273,157 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BIO. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $366.67.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $373.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.42. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a return on equity of 3.54% and a net margin of 8.59%. The business had revenue of $656.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Rad Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,089,323 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $303,637,000 after purchasing an additional 12,251 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 233,227 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,478,000 after purchasing an additional 85,393 shares during the last quarter. Hound Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 125.9% in the 1st quarter. Hound Partners LLC now owns 97,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,241,000 after buying an additional 54,456 shares in the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 95,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,061,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $17,690,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures and markets products and systems used in life science research and clinical diagnostics. Its life science portfolio includes laboratory instruments, reagents, software and consumables used in areas such as genomics, proteomics, cell biology, biopharmaceutical development and quality control.

The company’s clinical diagnostics business provides systems, reagents and software for blood typing, infectious disease testing, diabetes monitoring, quality control and other diagnostic applications.