Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 348,540 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.22% of Bio-Rad Laboratories worth $95,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BIO. Brio Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $840,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 6,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $73,142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on BIO shares. StockNews.com cut Bio-Rad Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $440.00) on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $401.00 price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bio-Rad Laboratories has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $358.20.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO opened at $340.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.38. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.83 and a beta of 0.95. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $261.59 and a 52 week high of $370.57.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $638.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.79 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Rad Laboratories

In other news, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Andrew J. Last sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.94, for a total transaction of $989,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,494,016.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James Barry sold 623 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.49, for a total value of $205,895.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,582.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.06% 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.