Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BIO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $484.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.00.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE BIO traded down $2.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $275.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 164,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,243. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $326.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.15. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a twelve month low of $261.59 and a twelve month high of $473.50. The company has a current ratio of 5.83, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.82 and a beta of 0.87.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.17. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $681.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In related news, EVP Michael Crowley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.00, for a total value of $1,008,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,512. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 121 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Company Profile

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.